Pumpkin, chickpea and spinach curry

Being a little over keen, I roasted a pumpkin the other day that was slightly under-ripe. The first half was very disappointing so I decided to spice the other half up a bit and use it as a base for a curry. Well worth trying even if your pumpkin isn’t disappointing!

If your pumpkin isn’t already roasted, I’d added it to the spices with a bit of water, cook it until it is soft and then mash it lightly.

1 tbsp oil
Pinch asafoetida
1 bay leaf
1 small onion finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp ginger, finely chopped
2 dried chillies, finely chopped
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
400g roasted pumpkin, mashed with a fork
1 tin chickpea, drained and rinsed well
1 tsp garam masala
1 handful spinach, roughly chopped
Squeeze of lemon juice
Salt to taste

Heat the oil and gently fry the asafoetida and bay leaf (it will smell vile at first) for about 30 seconds.

Add the onion and garlic, cook for a couple of minutes before adding the ginger, chilli, coriander, cumin and turmeric. Fry for another minute then add the pumpkin and about half a cup of water. Combine everything well and cook until the water has more or less evaporated, then taste for seasoning.

Add the chickpeas and warm through, adding a splash more water if it gets a bit dry.

Finally add the spinach and garam masala. Let the spinach wilt, check once more for seasoning and add the lemon juice before serving with chapattis.

Serves 2