You will LOVE this new healthy dinner recipe by The Happy Pear

This tasty recipe is one of the many delicious meal ideas The Happy Pear have come up with for their cookbook, Recipes for Happiness.

Bursting with flavours, full of nutrients, this vegan dish is the perfect weeknight dinner!

Chickpea tikka masala

“Chicken tikka masala has been called the UK’s national dish, originating when a chef added tomato soup to a curry to make it less spicy! Our version, based on chickpeas and aubergines, is rich, creamy, and lovely and ‘meaty’!”

Ingredients

For the paste

• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 2 cloves of garlic
• a thumb-size piece of fresh ginger
• ½ a fresh red chilli
• a bunch of fresh coriander
• 1 heaped teaspoon garam masala
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1½ teaspoons sea salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon tomato purée
• 1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes

For the curry

• 3 scallions
• 300g mushrooms (we love oyster, but any mushrooms will do)
• 1½ tablespoons oil
• 2 x 400g tins of chickpeas
• 1 x 400ml tin of coconut milk
• juice of ½ a lime
• chilli flakes (optional)

Directions

1.    In a dry frying pan, fry the cumin and coriander seeds for 3–5 minutes on a high heat until the cumin seeds start to pop, stirring regularly. Peel the garlic and ginger.

2.    To make your paste, whiz together the garlic, ginger, chilli, the stalks from the fresh coriander (setting the leaves aside for later), the garam masala, smoked paprika, salt, pepper, tomato purée, chopped tomatoes and the toasted cumin and coriander seeds in a blender until smooth.

3.    Chop the scallions into small slices and cut the mushrooms into small bite-size pieces. Put the oil into a large frying pan over a high heat, and once the pan and oil are hot, add the mushrooms and fry for 3–4 minutes. If the mushrooms start to stick, add a few tablespoons of the paste.

4.    Drain the chickpeas, rinse thoroughly and add to the pan together with the chopped scallions, the rest of the paste and the coconut milk. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for a further 2 minutes.

5.    Squeeze in the lime juice, taste, and season with more salt, pepper and maybe some chilli flakes if you think it needs it. Chop the reserved coriander leaves roughly and sprinkle over each serving as a garnish.

6.    Lovely served with soya yoghurt and toasted almond flakes on top.

The Happy Pear twins are back with a new book, packed with affordable, quick and easy veggie options, as well as clever meat-free versions of popular favourites and inspiring advice on how to be healthier!

Though they have written two #1 bestselling vegetarian cookbooks, David and Stephen Flynn know it can be challenging to juggle everything and still feel inspired! Being busy dads themselves, they also know the pressure of getting delicious healthy meals on the table every day.

That’s why Recipes for Happiness is very close to their hearts. And it does what it says on the cover: it is crammed with recipes to make you happier, including a huge section of economical easy dinners that can be rustled up in 15 minutes (Thai golden curry, one-pot creamy mushroom pasta); gorgeous hearty dishes (goulash, Greek summer stew, an ingenious one-pot lasagne that’s cooked on the hob); a selection of plant-based alternatives to family favourites (burgers, hotdogs, cheatin’ nuggets, kebabs), AND irresistible treats (summer fruit Bakewell tart, double choc brownie cake).