Jamaican Curried Chickpea Roti

HomeClinics & ProgramsELLICSR KitchenJamaican Curried Chickpea Roti

Skill Level	Intermediate

Preparation Time	15 minutes	Total Time	30 minutes
Servings	6	Cost Per Serving	$3.79

Curried Chickpea Filling

2 cups	Canned or Dried and Cooked Chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 cups	Spinach, roughly chopped
1	Medium Sweet Potato or Yam, medium dice
1 cup	Tomato, medium dice
1	Large Onion, medium dice
3 cloves	Garlic
2 tbsp	Fresh Thyme (or 1/2 tbsp dried thyme)
2 tbsp	Jamaican Curry Powder (coriander, cumin, mustard seed, anise seed,allspice,turmeric,fenugreek)
2 cups	Vegetable Stock
2 tbsp	Olive Oil or Grape Seed Oil
To Taste	Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Roti

2 cups	Unbleached White Flour (or try using 1 cup Chickpea Flour and 1 cup Regular Flour)
3/4 cup	Cold Water
1/4 cup	Chives (or any fresh herb), finely chopped (optional)
1 tbsp + 1 tbsp	Olive Oil or Grape Seed Oil
1/4 cup	Sea Salt

For the filling, add oil to a large heavy pot over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook for about 3 minutes until soft and lightly golden.
Turn heat down to medium and add thyme and curry powder. Cook for another 2 minutes.
Add sweet potato and vegetable stock. Simmer for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. Add the chickpeas and spinach and simmer for another 10 minutes. Add tomato and remove from heat to let cool.
To make fresh roti, combine the flour, chives and salt in a bowl. Make a small well in the middle. Add 1 tbsp oil and the water. Slowly stir the flour into the liquid until well combined. If the dough is too sticky add more flour. If it’s too dry, add a little more water. Knead the dough until it is not sticky any more but soft to touch. Let it rest, covered, for 10 minutes.
Divide the dough into six small balls. Flour a flat surface and roll each ball out with a rolling pin until thin (about 1/8 inch). Lightly brush one side with oil.
Over medium high heat, in a flat cast iron pan or large skillet add one roti at a time, oiled side down. Wait until you start to see bubbles form, then flip and cook the other side. Cook the roti for about 3 minutes in total, flipping as often as needed. Remove from heat and serve with curried chickpeas.

PDF link to nutrition facts table for Jamaican curried chickpea roti

Spinach is known for being a very nutritious food, but did you know you can make its nutrient content even higher by cooking it? Cooking spinach increases the amount of lutein in the vegetable. Lutein is a plant nutrient that prevents the development of cataracts and macular degeneration, worsening eyesight due to aging. Cooked spinach is also higher in beta-carotene than raw spinach, an antioxidant that may reduce the risk of lung cancer and heart disease.
Spinach contains calcium, magnesium and iron, but these minerals are difficult for the body to absorb when spinach is raw. Cooking the spinach helps to release the minerals so they are more easily absorbed. For example, the amount of calcium in cooked spinach is 3 times higher than in raw spinach. Calcium and magnesium are essential for bone health and iron is needed to help carry oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body.
Turmeric is a spice used in traditional Chinese and Indian medicine to reduce inflammation. Curcumin is the pigment in turmeric that gives it its bright yellow colour. A study comparing curcumin to a medication for people with rheumatoid arthritis found that curcumin worked just as well as the medication in reducing swelling and morning stiffness in the joints.
Population studies suggest that eating turmeric regularly is associated with a lower risk of lung, prostate, breast and colorectal cancers.