Don’t be put off by the long list of ingredients. There’s a lot of dry spices but they’ll keep for a very long time so don’t worry about picking them up just to use a few teaspoons here. Sweet with the carrots and deep with turmeric and cumin, this is a perfectly balanced curry.

Serves 3/4

For the paste
1 red onion, quartered
1 red chilli (with seeds)
3 garlic cloves
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground ginger
4 tsp garam masala
½ tsp chilli powder
Vegetable oil, enough to make a paste

For the curry
6 tbsp vegetable oil
3 large carrots, roughly diced
1 cinnamon stick
2 tsp cumin seeds
5 cardamom seeds, bruised
3 tsp coriander seeds
1 can of coconut milk
1 can of cooked chickpeas
200g baby spinach leaves

Make the paste by combining the paste ingredients and whizzing in a food processor.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large pan on a high heat. Add the carrots and fry until golden and slightly crisp. Add the dry spices and fry for a few minutes before adding the curry paste. Fry everything for a few minutes until combined.

Add the coconut milk, 400ml water, 50g butter and bring to the boil. Simmer hard for 20 to 30 minutes until it reaches a sauce consistency. Turn down the heat and add the chickpeas and the spinach and cook for a further 10 minutes.

Serve with basmati rice.