Step 1

Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a large, deep saute pan. Saute the onions over a low-medium heat until they are soft and just starting to brown.

Step 2

Add the garlic and ginger, fry for another minute until fragrant.

Step 3

Add the spices and another glug of oil or a pat of salted butter. Cook until everything is well mixed and fragrant (this will be less than a minute - we don't want to burn the spices so we'll move on quickly).

Step 4

Add the tomato paste and mix through with the other ingredients. Cook for a minute or two in the pan to deepen the flavors a little.

Step 5

Add the vegetable broth to the pan. Allow to simmer, partially covered, for 5-10 minutes, in which time the sauce will thicken up a little.

Step 6

While the sauce simmers, defrost the spinach and drain out the excess liquid. My favorite way to do this is to microwave the spinach for a couple of minutes and then put it in a fine sieve (the kind you'd use for icing sugar). I use a wooden spatula to press the spinach up to the mesh to squeeze the water out. Another way to do this is to put the spinach in a cheese cloth, tie it up tight and squeeze until the water has all come out. Once that's done, add the spinach to the sauce and mix it through. Season well with salt and pepper and allow to simmer gently for a couple of minutes to get it warmed up again, since the spinach might have gone in fairly cold.If you're using canned chickpeas or another filling that goes in cold or room temperature, you can add that now too.

Step 7

Add the cream to the pan, and stir through. Cook for another minute, just to get it warmed back up again after adding the cold cream.

Step 8

Remove from the heat and mix the yogurt and cilantro through. Squeeze about a quarter of the lemon's juice in, mix through. The rest of the lemon can be cut up into wedges for serving.

Step 9

If you are adding a hot / cooked filling, mix it in now.

Step 10

Serve with rice and/or naan, and lemon wedges for squeezing.