Coconut Chickpea Curry

Ah the chickpea. It's one of my favorites among all the chicks. 😊 I think at this point everyone has had chickpeas - also known as a garbanzo bean - either as hummus, falafel, or in salads, or maybe even as a gluten free flour. But this dish here is one of my favorite things to do with chickpeas. The curry feels a bit decadent because of the creaminess of chickpea, but it's a fairly healthy dish, and not at all difficult to make. I doubt any of my curry dishes would be considered "authentic" but I think they taste pretty good so you'll have to give me a pass. 😉

And for those of you thinking, well where's the beef?! These humble legumes pack a good punch of protein, coming in at about 15 grams per cup (for your comparison, beef is about 22 for 3 oz and chicken is about 38 per cup). So it will keep you full for sure! What's stopping you! Let's do this!

Ingredients
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 large or 2 small onions
Shredded coconut
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp fresh ginger
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp curry powder
1 14 oz can diced  tomatoes
1 14 oz can coconut milk or cream
1 cup dried chickpeas or 2 -15 oz can chickpeas

Optional: If you want you can add in additional vegetables like zucchini or mushroom. Just cook them along with Step 3.


Step 1: If using dried chickpeas, you can optionally soak overnight (I recommend you absolutely do this if you're cooking it on the stove to save time), and then cook in either the instant pot or on the stove.
Step 1a: If using instant pot: rinse chickpeas, put into liner, fill water to a couple inches above chickpeas (use boiling water if you have any handy) set to manual, 35 minutes, natural release for 25 minutes, drain.  If using soaked chickpeas, reduce time to 13 mins.
Step 1b: If using the stove: rinse chickpeas, put into pot, fill water to a couple inches above chickpeas, and cook for approximately 1.5 - 2 hours, drain. If using soaked chickpeas, reduce time to 30-40 mins.

You'll notice the chickpeas I have are a brown as opposed to the beige that we normally see. This is a different variety of chickpea and is used in Indian cooking. I remember telling my mom a few years back that I used the regular chickpeas for making a curry, and she told me to stop and use the "right" ones. 😃 💓 So if you can find the brown ones, use them because they taste wonderful. Otherwise just use the regular ones. 

Step 2: Turn stove onto medium heat, and add coconut oil to a large pan.

Optionally you can use olive or vegetable oil if you prefer. 

Step 3: Slice onion(s), and add to pan. Stir and let cook for 5 minutes until onions are soft.

You can use any type of onion. We usually have a lot of red, so I used that. 

 Step 4: Add in shredded coconut and stir. You can use dry coconut but make sure it is plain and not the sweet stuff. Of course fresh tastes better if you can find it.

Step 5: I like to use the garlic press for most dishes, because I get lazy 😏 but you can also finely dice the garlic and the ginger. Add both to the pan along with the spices (turmeric, cayenne, salt, cumin, curry powder). Stir for a another minute.

Step 6: Add in the tomatoes and let cook for about 5 minutes.

You may notice that I cheated and used some fresh tomatoes because we had too many. I would have preferred the canned as I think they taste better in cooked meals, but this was pretty good too. 

 Step 7: Add in the coconut milk.

I use coconut cream (not to be confused with cream of coconut), because it's a richer product.

 Step 8: Finally, add in the cooked chickpeas and stir well.

At this point you just need to simmer on medium/low for 5-10 minutes to let the flavors meld.

Step 9: Serve over rice or with a naan bread and Enjoy!!

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