Filling the freezer - Beef Curry with potatoes, chickpeas and spinach

All the advice I have been given is to use the period between finishing work and baby’s arrival to relax, sleep and fill the freezer with food so you don’t have to cook once baby arrives! I’m finding it hard to relax or sleep in my first few ‘official’ days of maternity leave, there’s something oddly unsettling about having a career that you love to suddenly not having to go in to the office and the temptation to check emails is almost overwhelming. However, I am going to be proactive and used the time to do the things I love, see friends and cook.

I want to ensure the freezer is filled with hearty but healthy options that will keep us going over the next few months when we are struggling with a new-born and so I started with a huge batch of chilli con carne and a beef curry with potatoes and spinach. This way all we have to do is defrost and heat up and make some quick rice or cous cous and hey presto, a meal! I’ll give you the recipe for the beef curry as I hope most of you can whack together a chilli con carne without much trouble!

I bought the little take-away containers from my local supermarket and just labelled the lids with the contents and date and popped in the freezer once everything was completely cold.

Ingredients for beef curry (to the left of the pic above)
1 pound of stewing steak cut in to chunks, 2 cups baby potatoes, 2 tins of chickpeas in water, 1 cup of chopped tinned tomatoes, 3 big handfuls of baby spinach leaves (or 1 big bag), ½ red bell pepper, ½ yellow bell pepper, ½ orange bell pepper, ½ red onion, 1/2tsp ground cloves, 1tsp ground coriander, 1tsp garam masala, 1tsp ground ginger, 2tsp medium strength curry power, 1tsp salt, 1tsp pepper, 2 pints of water.

Cut the peppers and onion in to dice. In a large, heavy, pan put the beef, potatoes, peppers, onion and water and bring to the boil and then turn down to a gentle simmer. Next add all of the remaining ingredients expect the spinach (which is added later). Stir well to combine and then leave gently bubbling away on the stove for a good 2 hours uncovered, stirring occasionally. If it begins to look a little dry add a splash more water, you want the sauce to become a rich gravy, however be careful not to ‘top up’ the water too aggressively as you do not want to sauce to be to watered down either.

After a couple of hours the beef should be tender and falling apart and everything should be soft and thoroughly cooked through. Check for seasoning and add more salt if required, then add the spinach and give the curry one final stir until the spinach has wilted down.

If you are freezing this, ensure it is defrosted overnight in the fridge and heat in a pre-heated oven for 30 minutes until piping hot and bubbling, or you could heat on the stove or microwave in a suitable container. Whatever your preferred method, just ensure it is thoroughly heated through. I love this served with rice, cous cous, or a naam bread.