Spicy Ginger-Cumin Chicken and Chickpeas

I was at a loss as to what yo cook last night and hubby was grumbling about being hungry but was stuck servicing my computer for a bit. So as usual, I dug around to see what I had for ingredients. When warm weather comes, I almost always crave garbanzo beans. And I had some chicken breasts. Okay, I can work with that. Maybe something with a little spice...cumin, I thought. So I looked up some recipes using these ingredients, and then kluged together the following, which turned out DEEEElicious!

1lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed
Olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp cumin
1/2 cup chicken stock (home made!)
1 15oz can crushed tomatoes (I used fire roasted)
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 15oz can garbanzo beans/chickpeas, drained not rinsed
2 cups spinach or Swiss chard (optional)
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
3/4 cup plain yogurt
4 Tbsp cilantro, chopped (optional) 
2 servings rice of choice (optional)

In Dutch oven (or large saucepan), heat some olive oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook 2-3 minutes or until brown (do in two batches if necessary). Remove from pan and set aside.

Reduce heat to medium. Add more oil to pan, add the onion and garlic. Cook, stirring constantly for 4-5 minutes until softened. Do not brown.

Stir in ginger, cayenne, coriander, and cumin. Saute for 1 minutes or until fragrant.

Stir in stock, tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar and salt and add chickpeas and browned chicken (and optional spinach or Swiss chard) to the pan. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes until chicken is cooked through and chickpeas have softened a bit.

Stir in yogurt and simmer over very low heat for 1-2 minutes. Don't do this too long or too hot, or the yogurt will separate. Keep it creamy!

Split into two bowls and enjoy!

Notes:
One of the recipes that inspired mine called for a smattering of cilantro on top, for color I guess. If I had cilantro to use (which I didn't last night), I would use more because I loooove the taste of cilantro. So I upped that number in the recipe, though I did not get to enjoy it that way last night.

You could also enjoy this with a scoop of rice, but I like the heartiness of chickpeas just fine without any additional starch involved.

If dairy ain't yo' thing, I bet some coconut milk in this recipe would be delicious and add a little "creaminess" in place of the yogurt.