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Coconut Chickpea Curry
A rich coconut curry broth with onion, garlic, ginger, Indian spices in coconut milk and tossed with chickpeas. Flavorful vegan meal and you won’t even miss the meat!
This is comfort food in a bowl. I am always looking for ways to expand my kids’ diets and eat all types of cuisines. One of our favorite foods to eat is Indian food because it is so full of flavor. You literally won’t miss the chicken in this dish because it has so many complex flavors going on.
This Coconut Chickpea Curry starts off with a base of coconut oil and onion sautéed in a pan. This is what caramelizes and softens the onion to soften the potent flavor. It basically makes an onion its best self. Then the fresh garlic and ginger is added and cooked for only about 1 minute. This is to ensure the garlic doesn’t burn and become bitter. It will soften more as it simmers in the sauce.
The main seasoning ingredient is a curry powder. Curry powder is usually made with cumin, coriander, turmeric, ginger, cloves, red pepper, black pepper. It adds the perfect amount of warmth to the vegan curry dish.
To add creaminess to this chickpea curry, we add in a can of coconut milk. This is full-fat canned creamy coconut milk but you may use the light coconut milk if you are looking for a dish with less fat. Also, we add 1 can of crushed tomatoes which adds some freshness to the curry.
Chickpeas (or garbanzo beans) are added to this vegetarian curry. This adds fiber and protein and is the most filling part of the dish. I love the texture it gives to the curry.
This is served on top of basmati rice with a side of buttery Naan bread and a sprinkle of fresh cilantro on the top to bring some earthy freshness. A touch of fresh lime juice is what brings so much balance to the dish.
I am literally obsessed with this Coconut Chickpea Curry and can’t stop eating it. I literally ate it for breakfast and lunch today. Yes, I ate it for breakfast. It is straight up addicting!
How to make Vegan Coconut Chickpea Curry:
- Start by sautéing diced onion in coconut oil for 8 minutes until softened. Stir in garlic and ginger and sauté for 1 minute longer. Stir in curry powder and spices.
- Add coconut milk and crushed tomatoes. Lower heat and let simmer until it begins to thicken.
- Stir in chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans. Make sure to drain and rinse the beans before adding them to the skillet.
- Remove from heat and sprinkle fresh lime juice all over the coconut chickpea curry.
- Place curry all over cooked basmati rice and top with freshly chopped cilantro.
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Coconut Chickpea Curry
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon Coconut Oil (or canola or olive oil)
- 1 large Onion (finely diced)
- 4 Garlic Cloves (minced)
- 1 medium knob Fresh Ginger (grated and minced)
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Pepper
- 1 to 1 1/2 Tablespoon Curry Powder
- (1) 14.5 ounce can Full-Fat Coconut Milk (in a can, may use lite)
- (1) 14.5 ounce can Crushed Tomatoes
- (1) 14.5 ounce can Chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed)
- 1-2 fresh Lime Juice
- Fresh Cilantro (chopped)
- Basmati Rice or Naan Bread
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet or pot over medium-high heat. Add oil and let sizzle. Add onions and let cook for about 8 minutes, stirring often. Stir in garlic and ginger and cook for 1 minute longer. Stir in salt, pepper, and curry powder.
- Add coconut milk and crushed tomatoes. Turn down heat to medium-low and let simmer for 15-20 minutes. Stir in chickpeas and continue to cook for 5 minutes longer, stirring often.
- Remove from heat and sprinkle with lime juice. Serve with basmati rice and sprinkle with fresh cilantro.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Was all prepped before I realized I did not have any curry powder on hand, so I used my red curry paste. Delicious.
This dish is amazing! I went back for seconds and loved eating up every piece of rice with that amazing curry sauce.
The BEST curry recipe ever!!! So much flavor and my husband who is a picky eater loved it!!
This is the best curry I’ve ever made! The recipe came out perfect! Thank you for such an easy to follow recipe. I am switching into a plant-based diet to help thwart inflammatory problems. This kind of food makes the switch a pleasure!
Lovely recipe! Simple and savory. Both my mother (who can’t handle any spice whatsoever) and my husband (who loves spicy food) declared it to be “very well balanced” and delicious. :).
A few differences: I forgot to add lime, didn’t have cilantro, added some kale, and probably extra ginger because I didn’t measure it, and it still worked great (my mom who says she doesn’t like ginger didn’t even notice the extra ginger). This will be a new go-to recipe for our multi-generational household. Though next time I will double the recipe so we have leftovers! As is, this fed good sized portions to 4 adults.
Can I omit the tomatoes? I’m not sure how important this ingredient is for the flavor and I don’t have enough tomatoes on hand
Oh my gosh, this was so good. I like heat so I did change 1 TBS curry powder and 1/2 TBS Madras Hot curry powder , maybe an 1/4 tsp chili pepper flakes. And added 1 c. Small pieces of cauliflower as I had it. So, so delicious!
I made this! It’s really nice!
I wasn’t expecting my homemade version to taste better than the pre-made store bought ones I buy so much but it did! Definitely going to make this again.
OMG im shocked at how this turned out. I am in loooovvveee and my husband loves it also. We just recently went vegetarian and ive been looking for new recipes. Im slowly transitioning into veganism because dairy is not my friend. This is a favorite of ours now! Only thing I did different was use brown rice instead of what was suggested. I also added a little red pepper flakes because hubby likes things spicy. Oh and I always peel my chickpeas now lol. Other than that I changed nothing. Thanks for this recipe. It will be a staple in my household now!!!
Following up with my question, I omitted the tomatoes and made this dish. Phenomenal!! My husband and I loved this. We served it over rice and it was very tasteful! Thank you for the recipe, we will be making often:)
Fantastic recipe! It was easy and delicious. We are low carb right now, so I served it with a chicken breast seasoned with Indian spices. Yum!