Curry-spiced, chick pea, spinach wrap

Chick pea and spinach stir fried in curry spices, in a whole wheat, curry-spiced wrap. A lovely but not very authentic dish with a lot of flavour.

Ingredients

For the dry spice mixture
1T curry powder (1)
1t dried, ground allspice
1/2t coconut sugar

For the filling
1 cup cooked chick peas
1/4t coarse sea salt
1T cooking oil
1T scant dry spice mixture
1t brown mustard
1T passata (or tomato puree)
2T water
1 cup tightly packed, chopped spinach
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Optional: 1T nutritional yeast

For the wrap
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1t dry spice mixture (whatever remains)

1/4t coarse sea salt
1/4 cup warm water
1T cooking oil

Directions

Mix the spices, make the wrap and then make the filling. Mix the curry powder with the allspice, and sugar. Mix the dry ingredients and add the water. Knead until a smooth elastic dough forms. Set aside in a bowl for about 15 minutes to let the dough rest, covered with a warm, wet tea towel.

When the dough has rested, on a floured board, roll out roll out into a small, flat circle (about 8″). Brush with 1t oil. Fold into a half circle. Brush with 1t oil. Fold into a triangle. Roll the wrap out to about a 12″ circle. It should be fairly thin (about 1/8″). Brush with the last 1t oil.

Bring a large frying pan to heat on medium high (or use a griddle if you have one). Add the wrap (dry side down) and fry for 1-2 minutes. Turn and fry the other side. The wrap will be done when it’s lightly browned. Don’t overcook. It will make the wrap harder to roll. Remove from heat, let the wrap cool for a few seconds. Rub very lightly between your palms to soften. Cover loosely with a dry tea towel and make the filling.

Bring the oil and sea salt to heat on high in a small frying pan. Add the curry powder and stir to combine. Fry the spices for a minute or until they are nicely aromatic.

Add the mustard and stir to combine. Add the chick peas and stir to coat. Fry for another minute. Add the passata and water and stir to combine. Fry for about 2 minutes or until the water has been absorbed. Add the spinach and stir to combine. Stir fry for another 1-2 minutes or until the spinach is nicely wilted but still green. Don’t overcook. Remove from heat and sprinkle with nutritional yeast if you’ll be using it.

To finish the wrap, add the filling to the middle in an oblong shape, slightly toward the bottom of the wrap. Let stand a minute for the filling to warm the wrap, and then wrap like a burrito.

Fold in the sides perpendicular to the filling gently, fold up the bottom up over the filling. Tuck the filling gently with the bottom of the wrap — but not too hard or you may split your wrap if it’s overfilled. Roll the whole thing over to close the wrap. Let stand 2-3 minutes before serving. I put mine back in the large frying pan to keep it warm, ‘seamside’ down.

1. The curry powder makes a big difference to this dish. Use one you like with the right amount of heat, preferably one with fenugreek. This recipe uses a powder for convenience. You can always use the whole spices if you prefer. You can also replace the curry powder, allspice and sugar if you can find a Jamaican curry powder blend.