It's officially Fall here, one of my favourite seasons, with its warm days and cool crisp nights. Great sleeping with the windows open. The Cape Breton Highlands are slowly starting to change colour from their summer greens to yellows, golds, rusts and reds. The ocean is having a mood swing too...calm lapping waves have transformed into roaring and dramatic waves. The crows, ravens, herons and eagles are out in abundance, searching for fish and crustaceans that have washed up entangled with the seaweed.
It's definitely starting to feel like sweater weather...or at least hoodie weather if you're like me. It's also the time of year when I start to think about Comfort Food. What one considers Comfort Food can be a very unique personal experience. For my husband, who is quite a nostalgic person, his comfort meal would be either a roast of pork or roast beef with peas, potatoes and most definitely lots of gravy. It's reminiscent of the Sunday afternoon meals that his grandmother made for their family for years.
I for one gravitate towards dishes like panko topped Mac and Cheese or my savoury lentils and chickpea dishes. Hearty, filling, and comforting on a cool windy day. Anything curry flavoured for sure is always at the top of my list....and for my parents, it probably would be anything BUT a curry. I've never been able to convince them of how good a curry can be. I still quite vividly remember the time that I made them a curry: They ate it and were very polite about it..... but told me that I didn't need to make that for them ever again. Ha!
Since this blog post is about me and what I deem my Comfort Food to be, here is a wonderful, savoury, rich, filling, delicious Chickpea Coconut Curry (can I fit in any more adjectives in this sentence???) I love this recipe for a few reasons...yes of course it's tasty which is probably the most important detail. But it's also extremely easy to make....I'm a lazy cook at heart. There is very little chopping of things which I am absolutely horrible at. It's also quite a cheap meal to make and the ingredients are usually the basic staples that we keep on hand. We live in an area of the country where food is quite expensive. Sometimes it's actually more economical to travel 2 hours away to the grocery shop in the nearest city. Kind of crazy. It's also difficult to find fresh produce, and when we do find it by chance, it usually looks like it's on its last legs and set to expire within the next half hour. This is where having lots of dried beans, lentils and chickpeas comes in handy. Yes it's definitely a bit more work to cook them in the Instant Pot vs just opening up a can....but it's so much cheaper. I also like to use the broth that's created from cooking the chickpeas etc. A perfect veggie broth for soups and curries. The other thing we've been doing is buying frozen spinach instead of fresh. It keeps for a very long time and is so much more convenient than fresh: We just throw a few frozen cubes of it in for extra colour and nutrition.
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We lucked out at the grocery store this last time and happened to find some fresh Cilantro (maybe we should have bought a lottery ticket too???) I served our curry with some naan bread and a heaping amount of Cilantro mixed in (I loooove it soooooo muuuuuuch!) My husband ate his with a huge dollop of disgusting lime green coloured mint jelly...don't ask, bone of contention ;-)
If you're craving a super easy, economical, as well as soul nourishing dish, then look no further. I can guarantee that it will be even more flavourful the following day: perfect for lunches.
But maybe chickpea curries aren't your particular thing or what you would consider Comfort Food: What's your go to meal when you need something warm and comforting?
A Delicious Chickpea Coconut Curry
Adapted from a recipe found on The Plant Based School
Takes roughly 25 minutes to cook, prep time varies on whether you use canned chickpeas or dried, Serves 4 people very generously
Ingredients
1 tbsp of olive oil
1 medium-large onion, chopped
1-3 cloves of garlic, diced (I only used 1 clove as mine is super fresh and quite potent)
1 tbsp of minced jarred ginger
2 tsps of curry powder
2 tsps of cumin seeds (I prefer seeds over ground but if you prefer, use 1 tsp of ground)
1 tsp of ground coriander
1 tsp of turmeric
a sprinkle of red pepper flakes
a tsp or two of chili powder
1-2 tsps of garam masala
2 cups of veggie or chicken broth (I used the chickpea broth leftover from cooking them in the Instant Pot)
1 can (796 mls) of diced or whole tomatoes (original recipe calls for crushed tomatoes which I did not have)
1 can of coconut milk (light or full fat depending on your preference...I went full fat because life is too short)
salt and pepper to taste
3 cans of drained and rinsed chickpeas (400 g each) I used dried chickpeas and cooked them ahead of time in the Instant Pot.... so about 5 1/2 cups of cooked chickpeas
Spinach, a few handfuls of fresh or 4-5 cubes of frozen
Optional: a squeeze of lemon juice, fresh cilantro, Greek yogourt
Directions
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add in the chopped onion and cook on medium-low until it softens (roughly 3-4 minutes.)
Add in the diced garlic, ginger, and the spices....cumin, coriander, turmeric, red pepper flakes, chili powder, garam masala. Toast the spices for about 1 minute until fragrant.
Add in the chickpeas and stir until coated with spices. Pour in the broth, the tomatoes and the coconut milk. Keep stirring so that the coconut milk blends in well with the mixture. If you used canned whole tomatoes, use your spoon to break them up into smaller chunks. Season with salt and pepper.
Simmer gently for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the spinach. Add a few splashes of fresh or concentrated lemon juice, give it a good stir. I like to chop up fresh cilantro as well and add in. Save a bit of the cilantro for garnishing (I might love cilantro a whole lot so if it's not your thing then omit of course.) Once the spinach has cooked, have a taste, season more if needed. Top with greek yogourt...or yucky green mint sauce if you're my husband...or a sweet chutney sauce...serve with naan bread or basmati rice. Yum!
Cheers
from Susanne at Bistro 164/415
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