Indian Spiced Chicken with Chickpeas and Spinach

Golden and fragrant, we loved the beautiful color and flavors of this dish.  This one is somewhat healthy too.  This one is a quick dinner to pull together, and reheats nicely too.
Inspired by this recipe, but simplified by me (because I am like that).

I usually have boneless, skinless chicken thighs in the freezer, canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans) on the pantry shelf and fresh spinach hanging around. We have made this with the yogurt addition at the end, and without, and frankly, both are delicious.  If you don't have the yogurt, skip it, but don't skip this recipe it's so tasty.  If you don't like spicy hot, omit the cayenne pepper, otherwise, curry powder and turmeric are not that spicy, just golden and fragrant.

One caution, be sure to put on an old shirt when cooking, and eating, this. If you don't, you're sure to have some yellow spots adorning your shirt. Ask me how I know...

Ingredients

Servings: 6

1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp butter

6-8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

 Kosher salt

1 large onion, thinly sliced

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 1/2 tablespoons grated peeled ginger

2 teaspoons ground curry powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons ground turmeric

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed

1 cup (or more) chicken broth

5 ounces baby spinach (about 8 lightly packed cups)

1/4 cup Greek yogurt (optional)

1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves with tender stems

Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt. Working in batches, cook chicken, reducing heat as needed to prevent over-browning, until golden brown on all sides, 8-10 minutes per batch. Transfer to a plate.

Add butter and onions to drippings in pot; season with salt. Cook, stirring often, until onions are soft and golden brown, 10-15 minutes.   Stir in garlic, ginger, curry powder, cumin, turmeric, and cayenne. Cook, stirring constantly, until spices are fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in chickpeas and 1 cup broth. Return chicken and any accumulated juices to pot. Add more broth if needed to cover chicken about three-fourths of the way up. Bring to a simmer. Cover pot and turn the heat to low, braise chicken until fork-tender, 45-55 minutes. Add spinach to pot, cook until spinach is wilted, 3-4 minutes. Turn off heat, stir yogurt into cooking liquid. Season with salt and sprinkle with cilantro. Spoon chicken mixture over white, or basmati, rice.