I have this friend called Debbie.

You know how you have some friends who, if you weren't friends with them, you would totally worship from afar, secretly longing to be friends with them because they are so awesome? My friend Debbie is one of those.

She's one of the greatest moms I know (I copy her tricks all the time), she is a great cook, gardener, she's clever and resourceful, I've never seen her in a bad mood, and...

Well. This could be a worshiping post but it's not. This is really about her awesome chickpea curry. We made this curry for the first time together in her kitchen in Floreasca in Bucharest. We had two kids each at that point, and our husbands were buddies. She made it for me as a pick-me-up food after Jacob's birth, too. Oh, good times, good times.

Anyway. This is, as curries often are, a total non-brainer. You can alter, add, and expand this recipe however you like. My kids won't touch it which is why I make it a bit spicier and also add ginger. One day, they will discover the wrongness of their ways...

Debbie's fantastic chickpea curry

2-4 onions (I like more of them)
2 cans of chickpeas (or if you have dried chickpeas, pre-soak them overnight)
1 large can of peeled tomatoes (or fresh ones! even better!)
Some vegetable or chicken stock
Spices to taste: Curry powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, salt, pepper, ginger...
A few handfuls of spinach

That's it! Chop the onions and saute in olive oil on medium to low heat until softened. Add spices to taste (I used Jaipur curry powder today which is a bit sweeter), and let them roast for a minute or two. Add drained chickpeas and stir. Saute for another few minutes, then add the whole can of tomatoes, crushing the tomatoes with your fingers as you put them in. Add the stock, turn up the heat and let the whole thing bubble gently. Add spinach towards the end. Serve with rice (which Debbie makes with coriander seeds and a stick of two of cinnamon and you should totally also do that).

I tinker endlessly with this recipe. I add hot pepper flakes or not. If I don't have spinach, I add peas or green beans or broccoli. Or kale! Or Swiss chard! Or you know what's really good? Arugula. Weird but true. You can leave the ginger out if you are like my other awesome friend who doesn't like ginger. If you are totally weird, you can add some garlic, too.

Easy, right? And yet... so, so good. Maybe even better the next day. It's exactly the right thing to eat on a cold rainy day in November. Or on a glorious sunshiny fall day in September. Really, eat it any time. Enjoy!