Jewelled Chickpea Curry

By Sue Bedford (MSc Nutritional Therapy)

Chickpeas are a great source of protein, folate, magnesium and choline – all of which are very important nutrients when trying to conceive. Combine them with pomegranate seeds, which sparkle like jewels in this curry both visually and nutritionally, delivering several fertility-friendly vitamins and minerals such as zinc, vitamin A, C, and E, fibre (and many more) –and when coupled with the rest of the fresh ingredients, create a nutritious and tasty fertility-friendly dinner.

Ingredients:

2 onions (chopped)

2 shallots (finely chopped)

200g dried chickpeas soaked overnight

100g chana dal soaked overnight

3 cloves of garlic (crushed)

1 inch grated ginger

2 crushed black cardamoms

1 tsp garam masala

1 chopped fresh chilli

1 cinnamon stick

½ tsp cumin seeds

2 tablespoons of olive oil

50g pomegranate seeds

Handful of fresh chopped coriander

To make:

Place the chickpeas into a pan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Cook until they are tender and then drain and place aside. Heat the olive oil in a large pan. Add the onions, shallots, ginger, cumin seeds, garam masala, chilli, cardamoms, cinnamon and garlic. Cook for around 3 minutes. In a separate pan cook the chana dal in some water until tender and drain. Add this to the pan with the chickpeas and cook for a few more minutes until all the ingredients are heated. Give it all a good stir. Once cooked sprinkle the fresh coriander and pomegranate seeds over as a garnish. Enjoy!