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    Home » Recipes

    Lentil and Chickpea Curry with Spinach

    Published: Mar 2, 2016 · Modified: Apr 5, 2022 by REALMEALDEAL ·

    chickpea and lentil curry pinterest pin
    bowl of lentil and chickpea dahl with spianch pinterest pin
    pinterest pin showing lentil and chickpea curry in a bowl
    pinterest pin showing chickpea and lentil curry

    This Lentil and Chickpea Curry with Spinach is healthy, budget-friendly, tasty, and can be made from storecupboard and fairtrade ingredients. There's no need to pre-soak the lentils and it's ready in just 40 minutes. It's also, vegan, dairy, and gluten-free!

    lentil and chickpea curry in bowl with rice, flatbread to side
    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Chickpeas and lentils are traditional curry ingredients and are full of protein. The creamy sauce is made with coconut milk and tomatoes. I love adding fresh spinach to my curries. It not only adds great colour but is nutritious and needs no additional cooking. Finally stirring through lemon juice at the end lifts the flavours. You might also like my Aubergine and Chickpea curry recipe. If you're after more easy recipes with lentils, try my Roasted Red Pepper and Lentil Soup or Mushroom and Lentil Ragu.

    Jump to:
    • Ingredients
    • Instructions
    • Substitutions
    • How to soak chickpeas
    • How to Serve
    • Sustainability
    • Storage
    • Top tip
    • 📖 Recipe

    Ingredients

    This easy chickpea and lentil curry or dahl makes a great standby recipe as it can be made from storecupboard ingredients.

    labelled ingredients image for chickpea and lentil curry.
    • Red Lentils. Red lentils need a shorter cooking time than green or brown lentils, so are perfect for a quick curry. I use dried red lentils, but if you want to speed up the cooking time, even more, you could use tinned or canned lentils that have already been cooked and soaked.
    • Chickpeas. Use tinned or canned chickpeas that have already been soaked. Drain the chickpeas and rinse under cold water before adding or your sauce will be gloopy.
    • Curry Paste. A Korma curry paste is perfect for this recipe.

    See recipe card for quantities.

    Instructions

    Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the onion and garlic for 2 minutes over a medium heat.

    onions garlic and ginger frying in pan.

    Stir in the curry paste or curry powder and fry for 1 minute. Keep stirring.

    curry paste added to fried onion in pan.

    Drain and rinse the chickpeas, then add with the lentils, coconut milk, and chopped tomatoes. Bring to a boil then simmer for 30 minutes until the lentils are soft, stirring occasionally. Add a little water if necessary.

    coconut milk, tinned tomatoes red lentils and chickpeas added to curry paste and onion.

    Stir the spinach and lemon juice through the curry and serve.

    fresh spinach and lemon juice stirred through chickpea and lentil curry.

    Substitutions

    • Lentils- red lentils work best as they have the shortest cooking time. However, you could use green or brown lentils and let the curry simmer for longer. Dried lentils will take on the flavour of the curry when cooked.
    • Chickpeas - presoaked chickpeas are the easiest to use in this recipe. However, if you have dried chickpeas, you can use these. Dried chickpeas need to be soaked before adding them to a recipe. (see below). Dried chickpeas triple in size when cooked, so for this recipe, you will need about 90g of dried chickpeas.
    • Lemons - I would always use fresh lemons where possible, but as this recipe can be cooked from store cupboard ingredients, you can substitute bottled lemon juice if you need to.
    • Coconut Milk - you can use full fat or light coconut milk. Full fat is thicker but the lentils make the sauce thick anyway so I always use the lighter version in this recipe.
    • Curry Paste - I use a curry paste as it's easier than curry powder. However, you can use curry powder instead. As a general rule, use 1 teaspoon of curry powder for every tablespoon of curry paste in the recipe. All curry powders are different strengths so you might want to start with a smaller amount and add more if you need.

    How to soak chickpeas

    Ideally, dried chickpeas need to be soaked overnight or for about 12 hours. Add the chickpeas to a large bowl and cover with cold water.

    For a quicker method, place the chickpeas in a large pan and cover with 2 inches of cold water. Bring to a boil and boil for one minute. Remove from the heat, cover with a pan lid and let them soak for at least one hour.

    How to Serve

    I like to serve this lentil curry with rice or naan bread or both. The most common rice to serve with curry is basmati rice. Basmati is a long grain rice and the grains stay separated after cooking making it nice and fluffy. You could also use more fragrant rice such as Jasmine rice. For a homemade 'Naan' bread, you might like to try my simple Flatbread recipe. Made with just 3 ingredients, this is a very simple bread you can make at home and it only takes 10 minutes.

    chickpea and lentil curry with spinach with rice to the side.

    Sustainability

    A Lentil and Chickpea curry is a particularly great Fairtrade curry recipe as over half the ingredients can be bought Fairtrade. You can now buy Fairtrade olive oil, chickpeas, red lentils, rice, coconut milk, curry powder, and even lemons. Fairtrade is a direct way to help and support some of the world's poorest farmers. Climate Justice is a big part of what Fairtrade stands for. Millions of farmers across the world who produce our food and clothes are on the frontline of the climate emergency. Check out my most popular Fairtrade recipes for more ideas.

    Fairtrade Banner with Logo and words make it happen choose fairtrade

    Storage

    This vegan chickpea curry can be stored in the fridge for 2-3 days. It can also be frozen and is best used within 3 months. You can re-heat it in the microwave until it is piping hot. This is the most energy-efficient way to reheat it. Otherwise, reheat in a pan, stirring occasionally so it doesn't stick to the bottom. Like all good curries, this tastes even better the next day once the flavours have had a chance to infuse.

    Top tip

    The most energy efficient way to cook rice! Bring the rice to a boil in a pan with a lid. Once it is boiling, turn the heat off and leave the rice covered for 30 minutes. The rice will steam and cook without needing any more heat.

    red lentil and chickpea curry with spinach in a bowl.

    📖 Recipe

    Lentil and Chickpea Curry with Spinach in bowl with rice, flatbread as side dish.

    Lentil and Chickpea Curry with Spinach

    REALMEALDEAL
    This Lentil and Chickpea Curry recipe is healthy, easy, vegan, dairy, and gluten-free. It's also packed with Fairtrade ingredients and can be cooked from storecupboard ingredients so is a great standby.
    4.86 from 14 votes
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    Prep Time 10 mins
    Cook Time 30 mins
    Total Time 40 mins
    Course Main Course
    Cuisine Indian
    Servings (Adjustable) 4
    Calories 674 kcal

    Ingredients
     
     

    • 1 tablespoon olive oil organic, fairtrade
    • 1 onions organic, peeled and diced
    • 1 cloves garlic organic, crushed
    • 3 tablespoon korma curry paste or 3 teaspoon fairtrade curry powder
    • 400 g chickpeas organic, fairtrade (pre- drained weight)
    • 250 g red lentils organic, fairtrade
    • 400 g coconut milk organic, fairtrade
    • 400 g chopped tomatoes organic, use tinned
    • 300 g basmati rice organic, fairtrade
    • 200 g spinach organic
    • 1 lemons organic, fairtrade, juiced

    Instructions
     

    • Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the onion and garlic for 2 minutes over a medium heat. Put the rice on as per the packet instructions.
      1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 onions, 1 cloves garlic, 300 g basmati rice
    • Stir in the curry paste or curry powder and fry for 1 minute.. Keep stirring.
      3 tablespoon korma curry paste
    • Drain and rinse the chickpeas, then add with the lentils, coconut milk and chopped tomatoes. Bring to a boil then simmer for 30 minutes until the lentils are soft, stirring occasionally. Add a little water if necessary.
      400 g chickpeas, 250 g red lentils, 400 g coconut milk, 400 g chopped tomatoes
    • Stir the spinach and lemon juice through the curry and serve with the rice.
      200 g spinach, 1 lemons

    Notes

    The Nutritional values shown for this recipe are just for the curry and exclude any side dishes such as rice or naan bread.

    Substitutions

    • Lentils- red lentils work best as they have the shortest cooking time. However, you could use green or brown lentils and let the curry simmer for longer. Dried lentils will take on the flavour of the curry when cooked.
    • Chickpeas - presoaked chickpeas are the easiest to use in this recipe. However, if you have dried chickpeas, you can use these. Dried chickpeas need to be soaked before adding them to a recipe. Dried chickpeas triple in size when cooked, so for this recipe, you will need about 90g of dried chickpeas.
    • Lemons -Use fresh lemons where possible, but substitute bottled lemon juice if you need to.
    • Coconut Milk -Use full fat or light coconut milk. 
    • Curry Paste - Curry paste is easier to use than curry powder. However, you can use curry powder instead. As a general rule, use 1 teaspoon of curry powder for every tablespoon of curry paste in the recipe. All curry powders are different strengths so you might want to start with a smaller amount and add more if you need to.

    How to Serve

    Serve this chickpea and lentil curry with rice or naan bread or both. The most common rice to serve with curry is basmati rice.  You could also use more fragrant rice such as Jasmine rice. For a homemade 'Naan' bread, you might like to try my simple Flatbread recipe. Made with just 3 ingredients, this is a very simple bread you can make at home and it only takes 10 minutes.

    Storage

    This curry can be stored in the fridge for 2-3 days. It can also be frozen and is best used within 3 months.

    Nutrition per serving

    Calories: 674kcalCarbohydrates: 80gProtein: 30gFat: 29gSaturated Fat: 20gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gSodium: 208mgPotassium: 1655mgFiber: 30gSugar: 11gVitamin A: 6635IUVitamin C: 46mgCalcium: 213mgIron: 14mg

    The Nutritional Values are computer generated estimates based on industry standards and are provided as a helpful guide only.

    Average Carbon Emissions

    Author REALMEALDEAL
    Tried this recipe?Mention @realmealdealuk or tag #realmealdeal!

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    1. Dionne

      June 21, 2022 at 12:48 pm

      I LOVE that you added som spinach to it. It makes the whole picture complete for me. So yum!

      Reply
    2. Mahy

      June 21, 2022 at 12:38 pm

      I mean.... is there a better combo than this when it comes to healthy and delicious food? This recipe should definitely be on a regular rotation from now on.

      Reply
    3. Rosemary

      June 21, 2022 at 10:41 am

      What a delicious combination of ingredients. I'm a fan of lentil soup and make it quite regularly. I've never thought of adding coconut milk and making a curry instead. Thanks for the tips and the delectable recipe. Can't wait to make it!!

      Reply
    4. kushigalu

      June 21, 2022 at 10:32 am

      Love the combination of ingredients in this curry recipe. So delicious.

      Reply
    5. Emese

      June 21, 2022 at 10:28 am

      What a colorful combination. I do love curries and I know some do not a relatively long list of ingredients. But whenever I see a short list with a delicious outcome I save it immediately. Thank you for this recipe.

      Reply
      • REALMEALDEAL

        June 21, 2022 at 10:37 am

        Glad you like it. I always try to keep things simple!

        Reply
    6. Catherine Horrigan

      April 13, 2021 at 7:41 pm

      Lovely tasty meal, very filling, tastes even better the next day. Wonderful meat-free meal.

      Reply
    7. Julie Swift

      December 15, 2020 at 1:25 pm

      Really tasty family vegetarian meal. Definitely make this again and so easy to pre cook and heat later in the day

      Reply
    8. Ruth

      February 03, 2020 at 5:37 pm

      Very tasty. We have this to our vegetarian friend and her meat-eating partner. At the end of the meal I heard him whisper to her that he wouldn't mind having it again!!!!!

      Reply
    9. Tri P

      June 13, 2016 at 4:53 pm

      I've given my fussy 8 year old this curry twice, each time he and the rest of the family virtually licked the plates clean...wish I'd known about it years ago!

      Reply
      • REALMEALDEAL

        June 13, 2016 at 9:53 pm

        It's great when our kids surprise us and try new things. So glad to hear this is a hit!

        Reply
    10. D Morgan

      May 16, 2016 at 9:43 pm

      Absolutely delicious! Needed to add a slash of water half way through. Reheats well in the microwave. Will definitely be doing this again

      Reply

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