There’s a tradition on my mum’s side to have curries at Christmas (well Boxing Day)! Why not the traditional meal you may ask? Well my mum’s family come from Sri Lanka and hot spicy curries are our thing! This most recent Boxing Day was no exception, where we all brought a curry and had a feast!

My contribution was the Channa Masala! I usually make the Sweet Potato curry, however I’ve gone off sweet potato a little and felt like a mean chickpea one instead. This recipe certainly takes the cake for it too, the creaminess here is brought on from the coconut cream used - no cream was added - and the spice, well of course, it’s chilli!

Serve this with rice, raita and a ice cold beer on a nice warm day!

Serves:

• 10-15 small serves

Ingredients:

• 2 cans chickpeas drained
• 1/2 large onion
• 1 can tomatoes
• 3/4 can coconut cream
• 1 tbs sugar
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 tbs mustard seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp tumeric
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 2 tbs ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• pinch salt
• fresh chilli (to your taste)
• chilli seeds (to your taste)
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 cardamon pods, smashed/bruised
• 3 cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp ginger

Instructions:

1. Place 1/2 of the tomato, ginger, garlic and onion into the vitamiser and blend through. Do the remaining and place in a pan with the oil.
2. Heat through the mixture, ensuring the onions have softened.
3. Place in all the spices (minus the chillies) and the sugar, stirring through evenly.
4. Pour the chickpeas into the pan and leave to simmer for ten minutes on a low heat.
5. Pour in the coconut cream and stir. It will look like a lot for the dish, but it reduces down quite well. Simmer with a lid on top until the sauce has reduced down to a thick gravy. You will need to stir occasionally.
6. Slice the chillies up and add to your pan, also adding some more dried chilli seeds to your liking. Allow the chillis to cook through.
7. Remove the cloves, cardamon pods, bay leaf and cinnamon before serving.