My New favourite curry book is Anjum Anand but I never have all of the ingredients in (tamarind paste, white poppy seeds ?). I don't have all the stuff for her Chick Pea Curry so I made this up.
Ingreds
- 2 teaspoons of ginger (fresh grated or from a jar)
- 2 fat garlic cloves or 4 small ones
- 1 big tomato or 2 small ones
- Half an onion
- Tin of chick peas
- 1 dessert spoon of mango chutney
- 2 cloves
- 2 green cardamoms
- 1 black cardamom
- 5 cm piece of cinnamon stick
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- A bit of turmeric
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1 finger chilli
- 1 teaspoon (actually a bit less) garam masala
I rarely use fresh ginger now - I get the Provender's Really Lazy Ginger in a jar. Blend 2 teaspoons of ginger, 2 fat garlic cloves (or 4 little ones) and the tomato(es) with a splash of water using a blender to make something that is just runnier than a paste.
Cover the bottom of a medium saucepan with oil. I use half olive and half groundnut. Warm it up and put in a teaspoon of cumin powder, prick the finger chilli with a knife and add that (or use half a teaspoon of dried crushed chillies), a 5cm stick of cinnamon, 2 cloves, 2 green cardamoms and one black one. Crush the black one a bit under the side of your knife. Fry them up a until you get curry smells in your kitchen. Chop half an onion up into small dice and fry it in the spices until it is brown round the edges.
Add the tomato paste with a little tumeric (a pinch? - the end of a teaspoon dipped in the jar), 1 teaspoon of coriander powder, some salt and a bit of crushed chilli if you want (I put some chilli powder in). Keep that on a medium heat for about 15 minutes and keep stirring to stop it sticking.
Drain and rinse the chick peas and put them in the pan. Fill the empty tin with water and add that. Reduce it down for about 10 minutes. Crush a few of the chick peas against the side of the pan with your spoon and stir them in to thicken it up.
Add just a bit less than a full teaspoon of garam masala and a heaped dessert spoon of mango chutney. Stir it in and leave it on a low heat to thicken. I eat mine with homemade chapatti. I think a bit of fresh coriander would set it off nice.