"Right now, I'm craving spicy chickpea curry...."

Food styling and photography: Annalise Muller

I was excited to try this dish out, because I have relatively little experience with cooking curries. I've made some kormas and laksas from shop-bought pastes, that's really it. 

 Upon a bit of research on chickpea curries, I came up with chana masala, a tomato based dry curry (meaning most of the liquid has evaporated, not that it's dry like a cracker). 

This dish did involve a trip to my favourite Indian market, where I bought amchoor (dried, powdered green mango) powder for the dish. It adds a sour, bright flavour to the dish. If you can't find it, use more citrus instead!

I used Smitten Kitchen's recipe for chana masala, which was adapted from one of Madhur Jaffrey's recipes.  I made a few  slight changes, but nothing major. 

I am always wary of giving measurements of chile peppers, since people buy all sorts of them. I used a green Jwala chili, which is common in Indian cooking and quite hot. I only used half. You may want more. 
I would recommend serving this with yoghurt or a raita of some sort. 

Chana Masala

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

2 onions, chopped finely
1 large clove garlic, chopped finely
1 thumb sized knob of ginger, grated
1/2 hot chile pepper, chopped (can less or more to your taste)
1 tbsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp tumeric powder
1 tbsp amchoor powder
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp garam masala
1 1/2 cups crushed tomatoes
1 cup water
4 cups cooked chickpeas
The juice of half a lemon or lime.


1.  In a large, heavy bottomed pan, heat a bit of oil. Add onions, garlic, ginger and chile pepper and cook for about five minutes, until fragrant.
2. Add all the dry spices, lower the heat as not to burn, and stir to incorporate with the onion mixture. Sautee over low heat for a couple of minutes.
3. Add tomatoes, water and chickpeas. Stir to incorporate. Simmer, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes, until most liquid has evaporated.
4. Stir through citrus juice and season with salt.
5. Serve hot with rice or a fluffy flatbread such as naan.

What do you eat in winter?

"Chunky soup."

Justin, Texas, USA

This soup is so simple yet so packed with flavour and texture. It is smokey, spicy, savoury, crunchy, soft and soothing. Here, I serve it with toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds), tortilla chips, and chopped cabbage. Normally, I also top my bowl of soup with avocado and lime juice, which I absolutely recommend.  

I think this dish really lends itself to experimentation;  you could try using another legume of instead of chickpeas, or even add a bit of chicken or chorizo if you're feeling a bit more carnivorous. The possibilities really are endless with soup....

Smokey tomato soup with chickpeas and rice

1 onion, chopped

2 small dried chipotle peppers

2 carrots, cut into rounds

10 cups of vegetable or chicken broth

1 cup crushed tomatoes

1 bay leaf

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 cup rice

1 cup cooked chickpeas

2 tsp finely chopped cilantro

Avocado, tortilla chips, chopped cabbage, lime juice and toasted pepitas, to serve.

1.   In a large pot, heat a bit of oil and add onions, chipotles and carrots. Sautee until the vegetables are fragrant and a little soft.

2.   Add broth, tomatoes and spices.  Season with salt and pepper. Bring mixture to boil.

3.   Add rice, reduce heat to a steady simmer, and cook until rice is soft; about 20 minutes.

4.   Add chickpeas and stir through chopped cilantro. Re-season with salt and pepper.

5.   Serve hot with toppings!