If you are anything like me, as Friday rolls around your stomach starts to growl louder, like it knows this is the time when the ‘diet’ goes out the window and the real eating commences.

Weekends in the Maginess household are synonomous with takeaways, the challenge is trying not to have one Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday night.  On a Friday night however, no-one wants to be a slave to the stove and so I wanted to share a really quick and healthy recipe for a Chana Masala curry, which is delish, differs from the bog standard Tikka Masala which may be a current forté and only takes 20 minutes to prepare.

Ingredients you’ll need:

  • Chana Masala powder (which can be picked up from most Asian supermarkets and also larger Tesco and Asda stores)
  • 2 onions (can be white or red dependant on your preference)
  • 1 can of chopped tomatoes  (if you prefer curries that are less saucy, replace this with 2 tomatoes)
  • 1 can of chickpeas
  • Butter (I use Lurpack Lightest to keep calories low)
  • Salt
  • 1 lemon
  • Coriander

The Process:

  • Add 1 tablespoon of butter to your frying pan on a medium heat
  • Add the chopped onions and fry
  • Add tin of chopped tomatoes
  • Drain chickpeas and add to the pan
  • Reduce to a low heat and cook for 10 minutes
  • Add salt to taste
  • Add 1 tablespoon of Chana Masala powder to taste, if you prefer your curry to have more of a kick add a second tablespoon
  • Cook for further 10 minutes on low heat
  • Garnish curry with coriander leaves
  • Cut lemon into quarters and decorate curry with it

Et voile!

This recipe is suitable for veggies, but if you are keen to add a meat then I would suggest Turkey as a healthier alternative to chicken.  By adding a meat, the curry does then become very filling when served for 2 people, but of course it also rounded off nicely with rice and serving with this can be a good way of making the curry go further and feed up to 4 people.

With it being a Friday night, you may also plan to enjoy a side-serving/ bucket-load of wine. So what vino goes best with curry?  I found a good article which advises of the ‘best wines to make your curry shine’.  Based on this sound advice, it looks like a Chenin Blanc would go nicely with a Chana Masala curry.

Happy Friday x