Slow Cooker Coconut Chickpea Curry (Meal Prep)

Source video by Chef Jack Ovens on YouTube. This recipe was adapted with strict source-fidelity rules.

A weeknight-friendly chickpea curry built for batch cooking, adapted from Chef Jack Ovens' hob original into a slow cooker recipe. Onions, red peppers and garlic are sweated with cumin and paprika on the hob to wake the spices, then the lot tips into the slow cooker with tinned tomatoes, coconut milk, stock and a hit of brown sugar. Chickpeas go in for the long simmer; baby spinach wilts in at the end. Serves five generous meal-prep portions with jasmine rice on the side, stores three days in the fridge or three months in the freezer.

Ingredients

• 2brown or yellow onions, diced fine
• 2red bell peppers, deseeded and thinly sliced
• 6garlic cloves, microplaned to a paste
• 40 mlolive oil

• 15 gground cumin
• 12 gpaprika
• sea salt flakes
• chilli flakes

• 180 mlvegetable or chicken stock
• 600 gtinned diced tomatoes
• 35 gsoft brown sugar
• 500 mlcoconut milk

• 1000 gchickpeas, drained, drained and rinsed

• 120 gbaby spinach, washed (add late)

• 350 gjasmine rice, washed, cooked separately on the hob
• fresh coriander, leaves picked
• lime wedges

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Sweat the diced onion for 3 minutes without colour, keeping it moving.

   ~3 min

2. Add the sliced red pepper and microplaned garlic. Continue sweating for another 3 minutes, breaking up any garlic clumps.

   ~3 min

3. Add the cumin, paprika, salt and chilli (if using). Toast for 45 seconds, stirring constantly, until fragrant.

   ~1 min

4. Pour in the stock to deglaze the pan, scraping up any toasted bits, then tip everything into the slow cooker.

   ~1 min

5. Add the diced tomatoes, brown sugar and coconut milk to the slow cooker. Stir well.

   ~1 min

6. Stir in the drained chickpeas. Lid on. Cook on Low for 4 hours (or High 2 hours).

   ~240 min

7. While the curry cooks, prepare the jasmine rice on the hob: rinse the rice, combine with 550 ml water, kaffir lime leaves and salt in a saucepan, bring to a boil, then simmer covered for 12 minutes. Remove from heat and steam covered for a further 10 minutes. Fluff and discard the lime leaves.

   ~22 min

8. In the last 15 minutes, stir the baby spinach through the curry. Check the seasoning and adjust salt if needed.

   ~1 min

9. Divide between five containers: 180 g rice and 300 g curry per portion. Garnish with coriander and a lime wedge if you like.

   ~5 min

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