Mallika Basu
Serves: 2
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Ingredients:
1 small onion
2 garlic cloves
Half inch ginger
5 tbsp of sunflower oil
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 ripe medium tomato
Hot water
1 x 400g tin of chickpeas, drained
1/2 tsp garam masala
Salt to taste
Photography by Zoe Warde-Aldam. In Good Taste: What Shapes What We Eat and Drink - And Why It Matters by Mallika Basu (Nine Bean Rows, £13) will be published on 22nd January 2026.
A can of chickpeas, a few of what my mum calls the “usual” spices, and dinner can be on the table in no time with this quick Chana Masala .While raw chickpeas are great when soaked overnight and then cooked, a can makes a useful shortcut on busy days. If tomatoes aren’t in season, double the quantities and use a tin of chopped tomatoes instead. This is my go to family recipe armed with a roti or pitta bread or two. Make loads, it’s even better stuffed into breakfast toasties the next day. And I totally speak from experience here!
Method:
Engaging Kids
Kids who engage regularly with veg through veg-themed activities, such as arts and crafts, sensory experiences, growing and cooking are shown to be more likely to eat the veg they engage with. Encouraging kids to engage and play with veg is the handy first step to them developing a good relationship with veg and life-long healthy eating.
Kids in the kitchen
Kids can help you measure out the spices, drain and rinse the chickpeas, or even help chop the tomato (if it’s ripe and soft it should be easy enough with some help). Rinsing and tearing the coriander and scattering over the finished dish is a simple and fun job, too!
Master these skills:
Washing hands, Cleaning vegetables, Weighing, Bridge chopping
Activities
Why not get a selection of different dried or cooked beans and lentils and try and capture the different colours, textures and shapes with colouring pencils? Or make a rainmaker with an empty, clean lidded crisp tube or milk bottle – pour in some dried beans or lentils, decorate them and seal the lid tightly before shake, shake, shaking!
Kids more interested in science? You can find at-home science fun with veg with our videos from Stefan Gates’ here.
Sensory
Why not explore beans through touch and sight? There are so many different kinds of beans and lentils. Get a few types that are a good mix in size/shape and colour, dried vs cooked, etc. and see if you can and your child can describe them. What do they look like? What colours, shapes and patterns can you see? What do they remind you of? What do they feel like? Are they rough, smooth, slimy, hard?
Find more sensory ideas, tips and videos here. If you get stuck and need a little help with describing words, we have a selection for you here, too!
Serving
While the dinner you are serving it with is cooking, ask your child to design a beautiful menu for the table, with special emphasis on “their” bean-packed meal they helped you make!
Find the best ways of involving your own child and their skills and interests on our Roles for Kids page.
Mallika Basu
Mallika Basu is a writer, presenter and commentator on food, drink and hospitality, with a firm belief in the power of food as a force for good. A features writer and presenter for Good Food, she explores planet-friendlier eating and the links between food, people and planet in her award-nominated newsletter, In Good Taste.
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