Humble chickpeas can be used in a range of appealing creations, including dips, salads, soups, side dishes and main dishes such as stews and curry. It’s a main dish that I cooked up for today’s column.
It’s called Madras-style chickpea vegetable curry and it’s not particular difficult to make once you have all the vegetables chopped and ready to go.
Those vegetables include onions, carrots and red bell peppers, which are cooked in oil in a pot until softened. Tomato paste, ginger, garlic and Madras curry paste then get mixed in, acting as the flavour base for the curry. I used store-bought Madras curry paste, a spice-rich mixture sold in jars in the Asian food section of most supermarkets.
The next step is to add some coconut milk, vegetable broth, a bit of brown sugar lime juice, small cauliflower florets and drained, canned chickpeas to the pot. The curry is then simmered until the cauliflower is tender. To finish the curry, thickly sliced leaves of baby spinach and chopped cilantro (or mint) are stirred in. When the spinach has wilted, the curry is seasoned with salt, to taste, and it’s ready.
The end result is a mildly spicy, deeply flavoured, meat-free curry. It also offers some good nutrition, with the chickpeas and mix of vegetables providing fibre and a range of minerals and vitamins.
You can serve the curry with steamed long grain rice or basmati rice. The rice can be plain, or it can be flavoured, as I did in the recipe below for lime and coconut rice. You can also, if desired, serve the curry with wedges of store-bought naan bread, lime pickle and/or your favourite chutney.
As noted, I used canned chickpeas in the recipe, but if you wanted to, you could soak, cook, drain and use dried chickpeas instead. See the Eric’s options part of the recipe for details on that.
Madras-style Chickpea Vegetable Curry
Madras curry paste flavours this coconut milk-based, Indian-style dish, rich with chickpeas and a mix of vegetables. Any leftover curry you have, once cooled, will freeze well.
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: about 20 minutes
Makes: three to four servings
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 small onion, diced
1 small to medium carrot, halved lengthwise, and then cut widthwise on the bias, into 1/2-inch thick slices
1 medium red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 Tbsp Madras curry paste (see Note 1)
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp chopped fresh ginger
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 (400 mL can) coconut milk
3/4 cup vegetable broth, plus more, if needed
1 Tbsp golden brown sugar
1 Tbsp lime juice
16 to 20 small (about 1-inch wide) cauliflower florets
1 (19 oz./540 mL) can chickpeas, drained, rinsed in cold water, and drained well again (see Note 2)
1 cup tightly packed baby spinach leaves (any stems removed), thickly sliced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro or mint
• salt to taste
Place oil in a pot set over medium, medium-high heat (my pot was eight inches wide and four inches tall). Add the onion, carrot and bell pepper and cook four minutes, until softened. Add curry paste, tomato paste, ginger and garlic and cook and stir two minutes more. Mix in the coconut milk, 3/4 cup broth, brown sugar, lime juice, cauliflower and chickpeas. Bring curry to a gentle simmer, adjusting heat as needed to maintain that simmer. Simmer, uncovered, until cauliflower is tender, about five to seven minutes.
Mix in the spinach and cilantro (or mint) and heat through a minute or two. Thin curry with a bit more stock, if you find it too thick. Taste and season curry with salt, if needed, and then serve.
Note 1: Madras curry paste is sold in jars in the Asian foods aisle of many supermarkets. I used Patak’s brand. Other types of Indian-style curry paste will also work in this recipe.
Note 2: If you want to use dried chickpeas for the curry instead of canned, set 2/3 cup dried chickpeas in a bowl, cover with a generous amount of cold water and soak eight hours, or overnight. Drain soaked chickpeas, then set in a pot. Add six cups of fresh cold water, set pot over medium-high heat and bring chickpeas to a boil. Reduce heat until chickpeas gently simmer. Simmer chickpeas for 60 to 70 minutes, or until they are tender, but still nicely holding their shape. Drain chickpeas well and they are ready to use.
Lime and Coconut Rice
Tangy, lime-flavoured rice, strewn with bits of coconut, can be served as a side dish for the chickpea and vegetable curry.
Preparation time: a few minutes
Cooking time: About 20 minutes
Makes: four servings
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 cup long grain white rice or white basmati rice
1 1/4 cups + 2 Tbsp vegetable broth
1 tsp finely grated lime zest
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 cup medium, unsweetened coconut flakes
• a few pinches of salt
Heat oil in a small pot set over medium, medium-high heat (my pot was six-inches wide and four-inches tall). Add rice and cook and stir one to two minutes.
Add the broth, lime zest, lime juice, coconut and salt to the pot. Bring rice to a boil. Cover the rice, turn the heat to its lowest setting, and cook 15 minutes, or until the rice is tender. Fluff the rice with a fork, and then serve.
Eric Akis is the author of eight cookbooks. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.
