Migrateful's Bengali chickpea curry

February 16, 2020

Wholesome all round. Courtesy of the chefs at Migrateful.

Anecdote

I picked up this recipe when I was volunteering at Migrateful's cookery class in January and it's by far my favourite chickpea curry (and also the only one I know how to cook). The charity runs classes all across London (and now Bristol) which are led by refugees, asylum seekers and migrants. It's a great opportunity for good old cultural exchange.

As a volunteer, you get to help participants put on a feast (and eat it). So far, I've been to the Bengali, Lebanese and Iranian classes. All have been delicious and just generally good craic.

They also have classes that cater for vegans, vegetarians and pescatarians, most chefs use halal meat too. Many people that go along to the classes bring a friend or heard about Migrateful through a friend/was gifted a coupon.

If you're not sold so far, may I add that you also get to bring tupperware.

You can find out more about Migrateful here.

Turning to this dish, I had it in the Bengali class and it took me by surprise. The ingredients are pretty standard but the flavours are just very wholesome.

Ingredients

Serves 4 people or 3 hungry

  • 50ml vegetable oil

  • 1/2 tbsp salt

  • 2 cloves finely chopped garlic

  • 2 large bay leaves

  • 150g sliced onions

  • Spices: 1/2 tsp turmeric; 3/4 tsp madras mild curry powder; 1/2 tsp cumin powder; 1/4 tsp garam masala; 1/2 tsp chilli powder; 3/4 tsp ground coriander

  • 1 1/2 tbsp ginger (grated)

  • 2 x 400g tinned chickpeas

  • 3 green chillies (sliced in half, though you can obviously chop if you would prefer)

  • 2 medium tomatoes (small dice)

To garnish:

  • Coriander

  • Fried chopped garlic (if you have time and can be bothered, it is nice and crunchy though)

Recipe

  1. Heat oil in a pan. When hot, add the salt, garlic and bay leaves. Fry briefly and make sure the pan isn't super hot - pls don't burn the garlic

  2. Add the sliced onions and stir well. Cook for around 5 minutes

  3. All all the spices and ginger (I once forgot the turmeric at this stage and wondered why my curry looked so sad. All the spices matter) and give it a good stir, letting it cook out for around 2 minutes

  4. Add the drained chickpeas and stir well. Cook on a medium heat for 5 minutes

  5. Add 350ml boiling water and the chillies. Simmer covered for around 15 minutes

  6. Add in the chopped tomato and simmer for another 10 minutes (lid off)

  7. Meanwhile, prepare the garnish. Fry the sliced garlic in hot oil until both sides are golden

  8. Taste the chickpea curry to see if it's soft/salty enough for you. I prefer mine softer and with not too much liquid so I let it usually go for a bit longer

References:

Adapted from Migrateful's recipe.