Chickpea Beef Curry and Rice

This is a flexible, pantry friendly dish that you can make on a week-night or meal prep on the weekend

Developed by Food Bloggers of Canada for USA Rice Canada





Yield
4 servings


Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp canola or vegetable oil
  • 0.5kg beef sirloin grilling or marinating steak sliced into thin stir fry strips
  • 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 2 tbsp mild curry paste (go hotter if you like)
  • 1 395ml can of diced tomatoes
  • 1 cup of rinsed canned chickpeas
  • ½ cup fresh chopped cilantro
  • 2-3 packed cups of baby spinach leaves
  • ⅓ cup of coarsely chopped cashew nuts
  • 1 cup of uncooked rice of your choice
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Start cooking the rice as per your rice cooker’s instructions or if using the stovetop method follow these guidelines depending on the variety of rice you’re using.
  2. Heat oil in a large skillet or dutch oven on medium high heat
  3. Season beef strips with salt and pepper and then add to the hot pan with crushed garlic. Stir fry the beef until browned. Remove from the pan and set aside.
  4. Add curry paste to the hot pan and cook, stirring constantly until the paste becomes fragrant (about 1 minute)
  5. Add diced tomatoes and juices and about ⅓ cup of water. Stir into the curry paste and then let simmer, uncovered for about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally.
  6. Once the tomato curry mixture has thickened, add in chickpeas, cilantro and beef and stir until heated through.
  7. Add the spinach – the spinach will overwhelm the pan but don’t worry, it will shrink down quickly. Cook until spinach is just wilted.
  8. Serve on top of the cooked rice and garnish with roasted cashews and any extra cilantro.

Notes:

Vegan Option: omit beef and use a 540ml can of chickpeas instead

The recipe can easily be doubled to feed a crowd but you’ll want to cook the beef in two batches so it browns quickly

If you like cilantro feel free to up the amount.

If you like a hotter curry, use a different curry paste.