After a couple of months of no timetables and long, lazy suppers, it’s back to school tomorrow and time to dig out some quick and easy midweek meals again. This one’s also a perfect student dinner, so if you’re heading off to uni this Autumn and want a cheap, simple, carb-counted curry, here you go.

“Chickpeas! Get in!” said the kids, the first time I made this. Surprisingly popular, chickpeas are also cheap and pad it out so you don’t have to use so much chicken. Plus they’re a good low GI protein/carb combo. Throw in some fresh or frozen spinach, a jar of a decent quality curry sauce, serve with basmati rice and it’ll be a lot kinder to your blood sugar than a take-away.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1 small onion, diced
• 400g diced chicken breast
• 200g of chickpeas (that’s half a tin), drained and rinsed
• 400g jar of decent curry sauce with as low sugar/low fat as you can (the one I use is a tikka masala with 9g carbs per 100g)
• Handful of fresh or frozen spinach
• 500g (cooked weight) basmati rice

Method:

1. Fry the onion in a little rapeseed oil until soft and golden
2. Add the chicken and fry until fully cooked through
3. Stir in the sauce, and add the chickpeas. You may need to add a little water too
4. While it’s simmering, steam the rice
5. Add the spinach towards the end of cooking

Carbs:

50g per portion (including 125g of basmati rice)