Wrapping Ampersands

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Recipe: Beef Chickpea Curry

All the driving I'm doing to and from work has made finding quick, easy, and healthy recipes almost a necessity: I don't get home until 6 every night, and the last thing I want to do is spend most of my evening cooking.

(Never mind the fact that I get cranky when I'm hungry...)


That's what I love about things like stews or pasta sauces or curries. Virtually impossible to screw up, these one-pot dishes can be eaten for days or frozen for later.

Tonight, we made beef chickpea curry from the Company's Coming web site. Had it not been for the fact that Ryan got something like three gallons of tomato juice for a different recipe a few weeks ago, I might never have made this curry, but I'm glad I did.

It was flavourful but not too spicy (though we could have ramped up the heat a little by using a spicier curry powder or a bit more chili paste; we'll see how it is after it sits overnight though.) And, with the rice, the meal itself worked out to under 500 calories. Well, 1,000 for Ryan -- he liked it so much, he went back for seconds.

1 tsp         cooking oil
1 lb           lean ground beef
1 cup        chopped white onion
1/4 tsp      garlic powder
2 tbsp       all-purpose gluten free flour (or regular; whichever)
2 tbsp       curry powder (we used medium spicy)
1 1/2 cups prepared beef broth
1 1/4 cups tomato juice
1 can       chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3              diced tomatoes
1 cup        frozen peas
1 tsp         chili paste (sambal oelek)
1/2 cup     plain yogurt
salt to taste

Brown beef and onion together in a large pot until the beef is no longer pink. Drain. Add the garlic powder and stir for about one minute. Add the flour and curry powder and stir for another minute.

Slowly add the broth while stirring the mixture. Add the tomato juice and chickpeas. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer for around 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the tomatoes, peas, chili paste, and salt. Cook until peas are heated through, about five minutes, then add the yogurt. Stir well and serve over rice.

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