In winter, the body simply craves comfort: sweaters and blankets, fuzzy slippers, a crackling fireplace, and a bowl of hot, delicious stew to warm the tummy.
My Chickpea and Kale Stew, simmered with Indian spices, does more than warm the tummy though. It delights your tastebuds with the eclectic flavors of toothy kale, succulent sweet potato, vibrant garlic, and tangy lime. And then it goes and turns your body into a lean, mean, fat-burning machine. How's that for perfection?
I used my pressure cooker to give me a head-start on this recipe on a busy weeknight. All I did was cook the kale and the chickpeas together until both were tender and perfect. To add to the convenience I used frozen kale, although fresh kale would also work great here. And by all means, use canned chickpeas if you want to.
I've been sharing Valentine's Day recipes on this blog for the last few days and there is more to come, but I wanted to take a little break with this everyday comfort food. If you live in the northeast, I hope you are taking all the precautions you can against the nasty blizzard heading your way.
A lovely weekend to all!
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Chickpea and Kale Stew
Ingredients
- 3 cups chickpeas (cooked or canned. Drain before adding)
- 16 oz kale (chopped. Frozen is fine, thaw before adding)
- 2 large sweet potatoes (cut into ½-inch cubes)
- 1 large onion (thinly sliced)
- 1½ tablespoon ginger garlic paste
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 heaping curry powder (or sambar powder)
- 2 dry red chilli peppers (optional)
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon coriander powder
- ½ cup coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- Juice of 1 lemon
Instructions
- Pressure-cook the chickpeas and kale together until tender. If you don't have a pressure cooker, soak the chickpeas overnight and then place them in a pot with the kale (use fresh kale if you don't want to use the frozen). Cover with water and cook about 45 minutes to an hour or until the chickpeas are tender.
- Heat the oil in a separate pot and add the cumin seeds.
- When they sputter, add the onions and red chillies and saute until they start to brown, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add the ginger and garlic and saute for a few more seconds.
- Add the sambar powder, turmeric, and coriander powder. Mix well and then add the sweet potatoes.
- Saute the sweet potatoes for five minutes or until they start to soften. Now add the chickpeas and kale and any stock from cooking the chickpeas, and bring to a boil. If the mixture is too dry, add water.
- Cover the pot and cook for another 10 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are really tender.
- Add the coconut milk and lemon juice. Stir well and turn off before the stew comes to a boil.
- Serve hot over some rice or bulgur or couscous.
- Enjoy, all!
Donna Cermak
As a recent vegan, I've been searching for interesting, tasty recipes, and have certainly found one here. It is absolutely delicious!
Creamy and sweet, chock full of healthy ingredients...kale, chick peas and in my case, butternut squash. Thus one's a keeper!
Chessie
I made this for lunch today -- very tasty. I used a five-spice packet that I bought a while ago in place of the sambhar powder, since it seems to have about the same ingredients. It's good even if it isn't exactly right!
Adam
Wonderful stew. I couldn't find sambar powder so I substituted two tbsp of curry powder. Any suggestions where to find sambar powder and best brands?
Vaishali Honawar
Hi Adam, so glad you liked the stew-- thanks for letting me know! I almost never buy Sambar Powder but there are a few like MDH and MTR on the market. You can find them on Amazon or most Indian grocery stores, although one thing to keep in mind is that some of these can be fiery hot. If you have a coffee grinder, it's pretty easy to mix up your own sambar powder and you'll also get the freshest flavor. You can find a recipe on my DIY masalas page here: https://holycowvegan.net/diy-spice-mixes
Stephen Baird
We've made this twice now 🙂
This time I doubled the onion as we both love onion and added mustard seed and kolonji to the dill seeds at the start of the process
Thanks for such an inspiring site, we are so looking forward to cooking more of the recipes
Vaishali
Stephen, thanks for your kind words and the feedback. So happy you liked it!
Indian Spices
Seemingly healthy vegetable stew which will help invoke taste buds.
Jennifer
Looks great! LOVE the colors!
Vaishali
Thanks, Jennifer. 🙂
ammasdtr19
I am gonna try this with pumpkin instead of the sweet potato.
Vaishali
That'd be a very nice substitution.
Anonymous
Hey, this works as Valentine's Day food for me! It sounds so warm and comforting. 🙂
Eileen
Vaishali
Eileen, yes, I'd probably cook this for V-day too. 🙂 Sorry I deleted your original comment by error and had to post as Anonymous-- my fingers are sometimes just too big for my smartphone and I accidentally hit the "delete" button instead of "publish". 🙁
divya
Yummy and irresistible..love it
Vaishali
Divya, thanks. 🙂
foodfeud
This looks so incredible, especially so with the snow and wind blowing outside. You have the three ingredients that make anything delicious: coconut milk, kale, and sweet potatoes!
Vaishali
Foodfeud, my thoughts exactly! I could eat those three ingredients in anything.
Pavani
Wow. Such a healthy and delicious stew. A very unique combination of ingredients. I'm going to try this very soon.
Vaishali
Thanks, Pavani. These different ingredients go together really well. Hope you try it. 🙂
Kamini
OK this is exactly what I want now! And I have all the ingredients! YESSSSSS! Looks fabulous by the way.
Vaishali
Kamini, thanks! I think of this as my-body-is-a-temple food: tastes great and does great things to the body too!
Manasi
Lean-mean- fat- burning- machine. 'nuff said!
Vaishali
And it's all true, of course. 🙂
Lucille Avilu
Thank You for this amazing recipe!! I loved it 🙂 Thanks for the site, being vegetarian and gluten fee and dairy free is hard sometimes but your site has made it a ton easier.