Chickpea Curry with Rice

I think I have a thing for chickpeas. Every time I see them in a recipe, it’s instantly bookmarked. Add the word curry and we’re in business. This dish may sound familiar since I have a Chickpea Curry with Cashews on the blog, but they are pretty different. This Chickpea Curry with Rice has a tomato-based sauce and isn’t quite as full of spice as the one with cashews. I loved the sauce in this dish. Hearty chickpeas surrounded in a creamy, yet figure-friendly yogurt sauce.

So, how’s it taste?

I really enjoyed this dish and thought that might be the case since I loved the other chickpea curry recipe. It’s refreshing due to the yogurt sauce, but hearty and very filling thanks to the chickpeas and rice. The crushed tomatoes were a nice touch, too. It became this creamy, tomato sauce and I couldn’t get enough of it. Usually I really like spinach in dishes, but for this one, I kept noticing how the spinach gave an odd texture to the dish. Normally I chop the baby spinach to avoid this and didn’t this time. I’ll be sure to do that next time I make it. I don’t like getting globs of spinach in my mouth. I also upped the yogurt a bit. I hate to waste food, so instead of using 1/2 cup of yogurt, I used the full 6 oz. serving. I’m a sauce lover, so it only made it more decadent. The recipe calls for 2%, but you could certainly make this with lower fat or fat-free Greek yogurt. Both work very well.

This is great meal that comes together in no time and is very satisfying without being heavy…all for only 305 calories!

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Chickpea Curry with Rice

by Cooking Light, January 2013
makes 4 servings
per serving: 305 calories, 5.8g fat, 12.2g protein, 52.8g carbs, 9.5g fiber

Ingredients:

1 (3.5 oz.) bag boil-in-bag basmati or brown rice
1 tbsp. canola oil
1 large onion, diced
1 1/2 tsp. garam masala
2 (15 oz.) cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 (15 oz.) can unsalted crushed tomatoes
1 (6 oz.) package fresh baby spinach
1/2 cup plain 2% Greek yogurt
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Cook rice according to package directions; drain.

2. While rice cooks, heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion; sauté 5 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Stir in garam masala; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add chickpeas, tomatoes, and spinach; cook 2 minutes or until spinach wilts, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in yogurt and salt. Sprinkle with cilantro. Serve over rice.