Chickpea curry recipe
This delicious chickpea curry recipe stars tender chickpeas in a richly spiced coconut milk sauce. If you have canned or cooked chickpeas on hand you can make it in minutes and serve it over plain basmati rice or jeera rice for weeknight dinner.
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 288kcal
Equipment
- Spice grinder (or blender)
- Large pot or saute pan (or saucepan)
Ingredients
For spice mix
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- ½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds (methi seeds)
- 4 pods green cardamom pods
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
Other ingredients
- 4 cups cooked chickpeas (you can also use two 15 oz cans of canned chickpeas. Drain out all the liquid.)
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil (or any neutral oil of choice)
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 sprigs curry leaves
- 1 medium onion (finely diced)
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste (or crush together 4 pieces garlic and a 1-inch knob of ginger)
- 2 medium tomatoes (finely diced)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon cayenne
- 1½ cups water or vegetable stock
- 1 cup full fat coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons cilantro (chopped)
- Salt to taste
Instructions
Make the spice mix
- Place all ingredients for the spice mix in a spice grinder or blender. Blend to a fine powder and set aside.
Make the chickpea curry
- Heat the oil in a saute pan or saucepan. Add cumin seeds. When they sputter, add the onions, curry leaves and ginger garlic paste. Add ½ teaspoon salt and saute, over medium heat until onions turn translucent.
- Add the tomatoes, paprika, cayenne, turmeric, and the blended spice mix. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the tomatoes darken and most of the liquid has evaporated.
- Add the chickpeas and salt and stir well to mix. Add 1½ cups of water or vegetable stock. Bring the chickpea curry to a boil, turn down the heat, and simmer for another 10 minutes.
- Add the coconut milk and let the curry warm through.
- Check salt and add more if needed. Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro and serve hot.
Video
Notes
Ingredient notes
- Chickpeas: Canned chickpeas are fine in this recipe but home cooked chickpeas will have better texture and flavor.
- Coconut milk: Use full-fat coconut milk. If substituting lite coconut milk use the full can and reduce the amount of water or vegetable stock in the recipe accordingly.
- Coconut oil: Unrefined coconut oil has a rich, coconutty flavor that works beautifully in south Indian recipes like avial. If you don't have it, use any neutral oil.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 serving | Calories: 288kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Potassium: 582mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 684IU | Vitamin C: 23mg | Calcium: 93mg | Iron: 6mg