Chickpea, quinoa and turmeric curry

The first recipe I created for this book, this is still one of my favourites. I’ve made it for almost everyone I know and get constant requests from friends for it when they come over. The thing that makes it so delicious is that the quinoa is cooked in the coconut curry blend, so it soaks in all the incredible flavours. This means that each bite is bursting with the tastes of turmeric, coriander, ginger, garlic and chilli. The spinach adds a beautiful colour, its vibrant green creating a great contrast to the yellowy-orange curry.

Method: Place the potatoes in a pan of cold water and bring to the boil, then let them cook for about 25 minutes, until you can easily stick a knife through them. Drain them well.

Place the potatoes in a large pan and add the garlic, turmeric, coriander, chilli, ginger, coconut milk, tomato purée and tomatoes. Bring to the boil, season with salt and pepper, then add the quinoa with a mug of just-boiled water (300ml).

Reduce the heat to a simmer, place the lid on and allow to cook. Over the next 30 minutes, stir every five minutes or so to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom. (This is quite a long cooking time, but this is how long quinoa takes to cook in all these ingredients, rather than just in water.) Halfway through cooking, add the chickpeas. When there are just five minutes left, add the spinach and stir it in until it wilts. Once the quinoa has cooked and is fluffy, not crunchy, it’s ready.

Kitchen know-how: Be careful with turmeric, it stains everything. Wear an apron while making this, try not to leave turmeric-coated spoons on white surfaces and don't spill it over everything.

Tweak it: If you like a bit of heat, add a sliced red chilli to the cooking curry at the same time as the other spices.