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Black kale and Chana Sabzi by Indian cook Mallika Basu

Cooked as a sukhi sabzi, or dry vegetable sauté, cavolo nero and chickpeas are transformed by a simple collection of spices in this vegan dish.

A tin of chick peas is the best fast food, and with minimal prep required this is a dish you can work fry in minutes for a quick mid-week meal. Look out for amchoor or dried mango powder or chaat masala, the spiky tangy spice topping for street food to give this a tangy twist to finish.

If they are out of reach, a squirt of lemon juice will do the job just fine.

Ingredients (feeds 2-4):

150gm cavolo nero

4 cloves garlic

1 x 400gm tin chickpeas

2 tbsp oil

1 tsp whole cumin

Half tsp turmeric

Half tsp chilli powder

Half tsp garam masala

Salt to taste

Squirt of lemon or sprinkling of chaat masala/amchoor

Method

Wash and roughly chop the cavolo nero or black kale, discarding any thick, hard stalks. Slice the garlic and drain and rinse the chick peas.

Now, bring the kale to medium high heat in a wok. When it’s hot, add in the cumin, garlic, turmeric and chilli and as they sizzle up, toss in the kale. Stir through for five minutes until the kale wilts and the spices and incorporated.

Next, stir through the chick peas, the garam masala and sauté for another five minutes. Add salt to finish and finish with the tangy twist of your choice.

Mallika Basu is a London-based food writer, cookbook author and cookery personality; quickindiancooking.com. Follow her on Twitter @MallikaBasu_ and find more of her recipes for the Evening Standard here.