Ingredients
- 1 decent sized squash peeled and chopped into chunks (I used butternut squash but others will work)
- 8 shallots peeled and halved
- 8 cloves of garlic peeled and halved lengthways
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 bag of baby spinach leaves
- 1 tin of chickpeas
- 100g of feta cheese in 1cm chunks
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- A handful of roughly chopped fresh coriander
Method
Put the squash, shallots and garlic into a roasting tin, drizzle with 2tbsp of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Stir to coat all of the squash in the oil and put into an oven at 180 Degrees C for about an hour (or until the squash is cooked through and the shallots have softened nicely)
Once you’ve got the squash in the oven, put all of the spices into a pan and dry fry them for about 5 minutes until the mustard seeds start to pop and they are beginning to brown. Then grind them to a fine powder in a pestle and mortar
Fry the spices in a pan with the remaining 2 tbsp of oil and the turmeric for a few minutes and then add the drained chickpeas and cook for about 5 - 10 minutes with the lid on until the pan is starting to get dry and the spices are beginning to stick to the bottom. I also like to crush a few of the chickpeas to make the mixture a bit thicker. At this point add enough water to cover the chickpeas and then cook for another 20 minutes or so on a gentle heat with the lid on. By the time they are done they should be broken down a bit and have enough of a sauce to coat the squash nicely. The second picture here still needs to reduce further
Once everything has finished cooking, mix together the squash, chickpeas, spinach, coriander and feta and serve. You can either eat it hot when it will wilt the spinach leaves or let the squash and chickpeas cool before adding the spinach and treat it like a salad.