Indian Spinach and Chickpeas
This is one of those meals that we’ll be making again and again. It comes together in no time, uses ingredients that we usually have around the house, and tastes awesome. I did have to go buy some garam masala, but I’ve been meaning to anyways so that we can start making Indian food at home. Since Hubby lived in India for 3 months a few years ago, he loves it. The garam masala definitely give the distinct flavor of Indian food.
Indian Chickpeas and Spinach
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients:
Two cans chickpeas, drained & rinsed
10 oz frozen spinach, thawed & drained
1 1/2 cups (~1 can) tomato sauce
1/3 cup whipping cream, at room temperature
3 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp Asian chili garlic sauce
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp garam masala
Directions:
Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger and cook 2-3 minutes. Add chickpeas and toast, stirring frequently, for another 2 minutes or so.
Add tomato sauce and bring to a simmer. Stir in all remaining spices and check seasoning, adding more of your favorite spices if desired.
Whisk in cream and return to a gentle simmer, stirring frequently.
Begin adding spinach in batches. Once all spinach is added, turn the heat down very low and cover. Simmer 5 minutes covered, and hold warm until ready to serve. I served over brown rice.
Recipe adapted from Savory Spicy Sweet
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
This sounds like a tasty dip, and I love that it’s so colorful! I can definitely relate – I’m not into the Superbowl game this year (we recently moved, too, and I prefer college football), but I am ALL about the food!
beantownbaker — January 25th, 2013 @ 6:12 pm
Were you guys moving during the holidays? We moved into our apartment on 12/21. It was rough… Even when it’s teams that I like, it’s still mostly about the food 🙂
i do love football food, and i’ve been meaning to try my hand at collard greens 😉
We didn’t move as recently as you! We made our move in October…and I’m just starting to feel settled. It is rough… Of course, the kitchen was the first room put together!
Approximately how much collard greens do you need? Can you use canned? This sounds terrific…like a soul food dip!
beantownbaker — January 27th, 2013 @ 4:08 pm
Sorry about that. Missed a key ingredient in the recipe. I updated it now. I used a pound of fresh collard greens. I haven’t tried it with canned. Let me know how it goes if you do.
I’m so not into the Super Bowl this year either, but I can always get behind some football food. I’m still trying to decide what to make for next weekend. This dip sounds so good!
YUM! I’ve never seen collards in a dip before.
Hey love this recipe. it is actually my daughters FAVORITE MEAL! but i want to know how do i make this into a freezer meal? should i do anything differently? or just make as directed and put them from oven to freezer?