I love Indian food, but sadly, I’ve struggled to find really stunning Indian food outside of the UK, India or major urban areas in the us, (not saying it isn’t there, haha, so no hate mail).  So out of necessity, I learned to make it myself. It requires some prep time, but it’s not that difficult and Indian cuisine is a rich source for vegetarian and vegan dishes.

One of my fellow blogger’s Pragati Bidkar, at Kamil’s Kitchen has some wonderful recipes and I wanted to share this one. It’s spicy, but you can adjust the heat by modifying the cayenne chili powder. I’ve adjusted the method slightly, but essentially, it’s her recipe. Thanks Pragati.

• 2 cans organic Chickpeas aka Garbanzo Beans
• 1 packet frozen chopped Spinach 
• 1 cup canned, crushed or diced Tomatoes
• 2 medium Onions
• 4-5 whole Cloves
• 1 stick Cinnamon
• 3 Green Cardamom pods
• 2 dry Bay Leaves
• 1 tsp Cayenne Pepper, go down to 1/4 tsp if you don\’t like spicy
• 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
• 1 tsp Garam Masala
• 2-3 cloves of Garlic
• 1 Tbsp fresh Ginger Root, peeled
• 1 tsp Sea Salt
• 2-3 Tbsp Oil
• 1 tsp Sugar
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• Thaw and wash the spinach under hot water and drain in a colander. Squeeze all of the excess water out. 
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• Put the onions, ginger, sea salt, garlic and the spinach in a food processor and pulse it until you get a thick pesto like paste.
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• Drain the canned chickpeas taking care to remove all the water/liquid from the cans. 
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• Assemble all the dry spices in a bowl or ramekin. Heat oil in a sturdy pan and add the spices, and stir constantly until you can smell the fragrance. Keep stirring as they can burn quickly. 
• Then add the pureed mixture and gently simmer for 5-10 minutes. Add in your tomatoes and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the cayenne, garam masala, salt and sugar. Stir, cover and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes. 
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• Serve hot with steamed down basmati rice, rotis, naan or just in a bowl like a thick soup.