Mushroom Curry with Spinach & Chickpeas

Serves: 10

Ingredients

olive oil, for frying
400 grams (14 oz) mushrooms, thickly sliced
1 onion, coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed or minced
1 red chili pepper, finely chopped with seeds and pith removed (optional)
30 grams (1 oz) root ginger, grated
30 grams (1 oz) tomato purée
1 heaped teaspoon ground fenugreek
1 heaped teaspoon turmeric
1 heaped teaspoon medium curry powder
1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika or chili powder
1 x 400 gram can of chopped tomatoes
1 x 400 gram can coconut milk
2 x 400 gram cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed (Could also used dried chickpeas that you cook beforehand)
450 grams mushrooms, thickly sliced
250 grams (9 oz) frozen spinach, defrosted (could use 100 grams fresh baby spinach leaves)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper, or to taste
100 grams (3 1/2 oz) plain yoghurt, to serve

Directions

Heat some oil in a large pan, and sauté the mushrooms until golden. Remove and set aside for now. the Adding more oil if needed, fry the mustard seeds (and cumin seeds, and curry leaves) for a minute or so, until they crackle in the pan. Then add the onion to the pan and cook until soft and golden.
Add in the garlic, ginger and chili pepper (if using) and cook for another 2 minutes. Stir in the other spices and cook for another minute until fragrant. If needed, add a splash of water if the mixture is too dry.
Add the can of tomatoes and the chickpeas, and return the mushrooms to the pot. Stir and simmer for a few minutes. Add in the coconut milk and spinach, stir and simmer again. If using fresh spinach, the dish is ready as soon as the leaves have wilted.

My Notes

This is a combination of 2 recipes I saw: one for the ingredient amounts, and the other for the spices used. I used dried fenugreek leaves instead of ground fenugreek because I didn’t pay well enough attention when writing down the instructions to take into the kitchen with me. 🙄 I don’t think I have any ground fenugreek left anyway. 🤔 I also added 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds, 1/4 teaspoon of asafoedida, 1/4 teaspoon of Kashmiri chili powder, and 4 – 5 curry leaves. I used the 'Korma masala' spice blend I had in the pantry. I left out the red chili pepper, only used 400 grams of mushrooms, and doubled the amount of fresh garlic. 🦇
One recipe suggested to drain the frozen spinach first, but I didn’t and it was fine. 🤷‍♀️ I left the frozen spinach defrost in the fridge overnight and just chopped it up a bit to help it thaw out before adding it to the pot. I didn’t add any yoghurt, so it would freeze better. This made 5 meals for 2 people.