Postpartum · Dinner

Coconut Chickpea & Spinach Curry with Jasmine Rice

Name: Coconut Chickpea & Spinach Curry with Jasmine Rice
Total time: 31 min
Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients: 2 tbsp olive oil; 1 onion, chopped; 3 garlic cloves, chopped; 20 g fresh ginger, grated; 1 tbsp mild curry powder; 1 tsp ground cumin; 800 g canned chickpeas, drained; 400 ml coconut milk; 400 g canned chopped tomatoes; 200 g baby spinach; 150 g jasmine rice; 1 lime, juiced

The back-pocket coconut chickpea curry - 30 minutes, one pot, pantry-only, and quietly loaded with iron and folate.

A warm, mildly spiced curry that forgives interruptions - nothing in the pot minds waiting while the baby does not. It earns its place in the early weeks by paying twice: dinner tonight, and a stash for the nights when cooking simply is not going to happen.

Coconut Chickpea & Spinach Curry with Jasmine Rice - The back-pocket coconut chickpea curry

Easy

Vegan IronFolateFiberCalcium

Ingredients

for 2 people

2 tbspolive oil
1onion, chopped
3garlic cloves, chopped
20 gfresh ginger, grated
1 tbspmild curry powder
1 tspground cumin
800 gcanned chickpeas, drained
400 mlcoconut milk
400 gcanned chopped tomatoes
200 gbaby spinach
150 gjasmine rice
1lime, juiced

Open this recipe in the interactive app to scale servings, switch to oz and cups, and tick ingredients off as you cook.

Per serving (approx.): 610 calories · 20 g protein · 66 g carbs · 30 g fat · 14 g fiber

Method

Rice. Rinse the jasmine rice, then put it in a small saucepan with 300 ml of water. Bring to a boil, cover, turn the heat to low and cook for 12 minutes, until the water is absorbed. Rice cooker: use the white-rice setting.
Base. Meanwhile, warm the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook the onion for about 5 minutes, until translucent, then stir in the garlic, ginger, curry powder and cumin for 1 minute, until fragrant.
Simmer. Add the chickpeas, coconut milk and tomatoes and stir. Bring to a gentle bubble and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes, until the sauce thickens enough to leave a trail behind the spoon.
Finish. Stir in the spinach a handful at a time and cook for a final 1 to 2 minutes, until it wilts into the sauce, then squeeze in the lime juice. Serve over the rice, and freeze any extra flat in freezer bags.

Worth knowingTwo cans of chickpeas and a bag of spinach make this an iron-and-folate event - the lime is there to unlock the iron.

Is this safe while breastfeeding?

Yes - this fits normal postpartum eating, and none of the few foods that carry limits while breastfeeding (high-mercury fish, alcohol, excess caffeine) are anywhere near it. Everything is plant-based and fully cooked, so the only rules that really matter here are the storage ones below. NHS breastfeeding and diet guidance has the fuller picture; beyond that, breastfeeding is thirsty work, so keep a glass of water next to the bowl and drink to thirst.

Substitutions & allergens

Butter beans or brown lentils swap in for the chickpeas without changing the method.
Frozen spinach works stirred in straight from the freezer - arguably the more realistic postpartum choice.
Light coconut milk lightens the pot; the curry just turns out a little thinner.
Lemon can stand in for lime, but keep the citrus either way - the note's iron point runs through it.
Brown rice trades in for jasmine if you want the extra fiber; it takes longer to cook.

Storage & reheating

The curry follows the standard rules: refrigerate within 1-2 hours, eat within 48 hours, reheat once until steaming hot, and freeze whatever you will not eat that soon on the day of cooking, per FSA chilling guidance. The rice is stricter: chill it quickly, ideally within an hour, keep it in the fridge no more than 24 hours and never reheat it more than once, per the FSA fact checker. With a newborn in the house, the simpler system is to freeze only the curry and cook rice fresh each time.

Checked against the public guidance we follow - see our sources & editorial standards.