Potato and Spinach Curry with Chickpeas

I love Indian food! It always takes a big investment of time to make, but the rich combinations of flavors make that investment so worthwhile. The only problem with making Indian food is I that its so tasty, I keep eating it, even when I'm clearly satiated.

Tonight's main dish was a baby potato and spinach curry with chickpeas. It was inspired by a recipe from Moosewood's Simple Suppers, but I found I was missing some key spices, so I just took the combination and ran with it. It was awesome! Very creamy and aromatic! I loved having tons of spinach in this dish. The baby potatoes took forever to soften, but I think the long, slow cooking really made this special. Adding the sour cream at the end took this from a dry to creamy curry.

I served this with red lentil dal, raita, and naan from Trader Joe's freezer. I was very pleasantly surprised by the naan - lots of texture:



Here's a view of the plateful I enjoyed:



Potato and Spinach Curry with Chickpeas:

2 tbsp oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
pinch of coriander seeds
pinch of cumin seeds
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
12 oz baby potatoes, cut into quarters
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes (I used tinned and chopped them into tiny pieces but included juice)
7 oz (half a tine) chickpeas, rinsed
7 oz (half a tin) light coconut milk
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
2 tsp lemon juice
salt & pepper
8 oz baby spinach
3 tbsp light sour cream

Heat oil in a skillet and cook onions for 4 minutes. Add garlic, coriander seeds, and cumin seeds and cook 2 minutes. Add garam masala, curry powder, cumin, and coriander and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the potatoes, tomatoes, chickpeas, and half of the coconut milk. Cover and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. Add half the cilantro and 1 tsp lemon juice and remaining coconut milk and simmer until potatoes are tender. Add the salt & pepper, spinach in handfuls, and remaining lemon juice, covering and adding more as spinach wilts. Add sour cream and check seasoning.

Serve with raita (I used sour cream, grated cucumber and chopped cilantro this time), red lentil dal, and naan.