Chickpea, Greens, Potato Curry

I don't know about you but when I feel low, I have got a list of little things I do to put the world to right:

1. Phone a friend and if that does not work follow the conversation up by
2. wash my hair......... normally does the trick,
3. bake bread will be the next best thing
4. a new, more Zen therapy is to contemplate the content of my spices rack

As I was doing so last Wednesday, it occurred to me that there are worse things in my life than the monitor losing its colour, sharp nails appearing under the tyres of my car resulting in puncture, a rotten flu I can't get rid of........and these little things could easily be conjured out by making sure that the alphabetical sequence of the spice jars was correct.

This is when I realised that there was 5 millions of jars in that rack and I'd better do something about it, phone a friend was not an option, I picked up the week-end Guardian where I knew I had seen a recipe involving quite a lot of spices and honestly without exaggeration this is a classic, it is absolutely delicious.

Chickpea, Green, Potato Curry

It is a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's recipe, I am not very familiar with his work but what I know is that I shall blindly cook anything of his in the future........ so here it is and as we don't do cabbage of any kind in this household I substituted the Kale with spring onions.

340g dried chickpeas (or 2 400g tins, drained and rinsed)
1 tsp cumin seeds, plus a little ­extra to garnish
1 tsp coriander seeds
½ tsp mustard seeds
1 hot, dried red chilli, crumbled
1 tsp ground turmeric
2.5cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 tbsp groundnut or sunflower oil
1 large onion, peeled, halved and finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
700ml chicken or vegetable stock
250g potatoes, peeled and cut into 3cm dice
150g kale (or cabbage), finely shredded -see above-
Yogurt, to serve
2 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped

Soak the chickpeas overnight in plenty of cold water. Next day, drain, rinse and simmer them for about an hour and a half in fresh ­water, until tender, then drain. (If using tinned, just drain and rinse.)

Put a dry frying pan over a medium heat and, when hot, toast the cumin, coriander and mustard seeds and the chilli for a couple of minutes ­until they smell ­really fragrant and the mustard starts to pop. Grind to a powder in a coffee grinder, spice mill or with a pestle and mortar, and mix in the turmeric and ginger.

Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat, and fry the onion, stirring regularly, until soft and golden brown. Stir in the garlic and spices, leave to cook for a minute or two, and add the stock. Simmer for five minutes, then add the chickpeas and potatoes. Cook until the spuds are tender, then add the kale. Cook for a few minutes, until the greens are tender, then serve with a dollop of thick yogurt on top, along with a ­sprinkling of toasted cumin seeds and some coriander leaves.