Improved Chickpea and Mango Curry

[highlyeccentric]

While in Geneva I figured out that Jack Monroe's Peach and Chickpea curry, if made with mango, sort of approximates the sweet chicken and mango curry that was the first Indian dish I actually liked and which is really hard to find. Jack's recipe, while a good workhorse, is definitely on the bland anglo curry side of things. Having obtained a jar of long-life mango slices recently, and being in the midst of making a multi-curry bonanza, I spliced Jack's recipe together with Madhur Jaffrey's "Chickpeas in a simple northern style".


This recipe is: gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, nut free if you choose a different oil
This recipe can be: tomato free, I've done similar without the tomato paste before, and mano works particularly well; made on assorted other fruits; made using meat instead of or as well as chickpeas
This recipe requires: At least 40 minutes cook & prep time, an hour+ for best effect; two pots if you make a rice side


1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
About a cup of water
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 can or half the Golden Circle jar (the format in which Woolworths sells them) of long-life mango slices
1 onion, diced
2 tsp of jarred minced garlic, or 2-3 cloves diced
1 heaped tsp of jarred minced ginger, or 1-2 tsp peeled and grated ginger
2-3 tbsp peanut oil
Spices:
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp ground coriander seed
- 3/4 tsp ground cumin
- 1-3 green chillies, seeded and diced (I used one long sweet green, and would happily use more; my partner would prefer I used shorter, hotter green ones, as would Madhur Jaffrey)

1. Heat the oil to medium, and sautée the onion until soft and starting to golden.
2. Add the ginger, garlic and chillies, stir-fry for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add powderered spices, and stir through.
4. Add the chickpeas and tomato paste and stir through.
5. Add water and mangoes. Bring to a simmer.
6. Cover and cook at a gentle simmer for 30 min - or, if cooking ahead, cover and leave to sit for as long as necessary (a sturdy cast iron pot would be best for this, but I was using a steel one just fine). If the latter, raise to a simmer again before serving.

I served this tonight with a red lentil and tomato dahl, a stir-fry of zuchhini and broccoli in a mildly spicy yoghurt sauce, and a not-particularly-good batch of Becky Excell's gluten-free naan bread, but i've eaten variations on the Jack Monroe one as a main dish (in which case, I often chuck green string beans in to round out the one-pot meal).

Comments

[mific]

It certainly sounds good! Was it tasty?

[highlyeccentric]

It was! I would like more of the sweet mild chillies in it in future, and my partner would like hotter ones, but he was successfully converted to the combination of mango and chickpea.