Seriously, the woods around me smell gorgeously garlicky and make me want to shout out hellooooooooooooooooooooo spring. It doesn’t have that effect on my cousin, however, who hates the very sight of it, because it was all he lived on for three days when he was doing survival training in the army.
I am particularly proud that the tiny bunches of wild garlic I transplanted about 5 years ago are now spread in vast patches that are just going to keep feeding me. Not that I am a show off or anything 😀 but somehow seem to end up at ‘my wild garlic patch’ whenever I take my obviously very interested friends for a little ramble. OK, I AM showing off a little bit.
Keep an eye out for wild garlic as you wander around in your local fields, woods or parks. How do you spot it? Easy, it has large white flowers, 6 inch long spear-shaped leaves, and if in doubt, pick a bit, pinch it between your fingers and smell. If it smells of garlic it is garlic.
The Royal Horticultural Society has a good website that will help you identify it. Alternatively, you can get massive packs of wild garlic relatively cheaply from your local farmer’s markets. You can easily substitute spinach or other green in this curry although you would then have to add in a couple of cloves of garlic when cooking.
I make this curry a lot at this time of the year as because I feel that the flavour of these first spring greens are perfectly matched to store cupboard staples of chickpeas and coconut milk. It is cheap, healthy and filling and ready in less than 30 mins. Personally I make this curry a day before I want to serve it as the flavours just work better the next day. And Dont forget to try my Wild Garlic Pesto Too.
So try this easy one pot wild garlic and chickpea curry recipe and don’t forget to leave me a comment below to tell me what you think.
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Wild Garlic and Chickpea Curry
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 4 cardamom pods crushed
- 4 cloves
- 1 shard cinnamon
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 2 tsp minced ginger
- 1 mild red chilli deseeded and chopped
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 400 ml (1 3/4 cups) coconut milk
- 2 x 400g tins (14oz) chickpeas rinsed and drained
- 125 g wild garlic washed and chopped
- 4 tomatoes quartered
- Salt
- 2-4 tsp lemon juice to taste
- Chopped coriander (cilantro) to serve
Instructions
- Heat oil in a pot, add in the cardamom, cloves and cinnamon and stir fry for about 30 secs until fragrant.
- Add in the onions, ginger, chilli and 5 tbsp of water and cook until the onions are soft and the water dried off.
- Then add in the curry powder and stir fry for about 30 secs.
- Pour in the coconut milk and the chickpeas, mix well, bring to the boil and let the curry simmer for a few minutes.
- Then add in the chopped wild garlic leaves and the tomatoes, mix gently and let the curry simmer for another few mins before adding in the lemon juice and salt to taste.
- Take the curry of the heat and serve topped with fresh coriander and rice.
- I recommend cooking it a day before you want to serve it as the flavours develop even more the next day.
I love how quick this recipe is!