Every time I make curry, I use a slightly different process. There’s no particular reason, other than I can’t decide how I like to do it best. So until then, I’m going to keep experimenting and playing around with it.
This time, I decided to simmer some potatoes, vegetables and chickpeas in a coconut milk / homemade stock mixture, then mixed in some curry powder paste, made of curry powder + fish sauce.
Topped with some fresh cilantro, this was a perfect spicy dinner that gave us plenty of leftovers. Which is a good thing, since this curry seems to be one of those recipes that tastes even better on the second day. And those are the best recipes to have extra servings of.
Red Chickpea Curry
This curry makes for a spicy, flavorful dinner. If you don’t have any fish sauce {or want to make the dish vegan}, you can replace it with half soy sauce and half water. It will affect the flavor a little, but should still taste great!
Serves 6
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
1 1/2 cups brown jasmine rice
3 cups water
2 cups low-sodium or homemade chicken or vegetable stock
2 cups (16 oz) light coconut milk
5-6 medium carrots, sliced
2 poblano peppers, seeded and diced
7 small Yukon gold potatoes
2 1/2 cups chickpeas, cooked and drained
2 tablespoons curry powder
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, for topping
Combine the rice and water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cover and bring to a boil, then uncover and cook until all the water is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and stir with a fork to “fluff” the rice.
In the meantime, mix the curry powder with the fish sauce to form a paste, and set aside. Cover the carrots, peppers and potatoes with the stock and coconut milk in a large stockpot. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20-25 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork-tender.
Add the chickpeas and curry paste to the stockpot and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
Serve over rice topped with chopped fresh cilantro.
LOL sign that I’ve been up since 5am studying and my brain is nowhere to be found: I mis-read the title at first and got excited. “oooh, red chickpeas!?! What are red chickpeas?! Where can I find red chickpeas?! Julie must hook me up!!!” LOL..yeah.
Looks delicious, and I’m all about things that taste better the next day.
Curries, chilis, stews all taste better the next day. I always try to make at least double so we can enjoy it later too
This recipe looks perfect for the cooler weather. I just need to get my hands on some fish sauce. It’s one of those ingredients I never have but is always in Asian dishes.
Yum! I am always up for some curry
Looks pretty good! I might try to make this one. DH doesn’t like cilantro so I’ll have to put my thinking cap on as to what to garnish it with.
But I love the color! It looks so good!
What a fantastic idea – coconut milk! I’ve been enjoying young thai coconuts lately, but trying to figure out what I should do with the coconut water – I think it’d be a great start for a curried chickpea dish!
I LOVE chickpeas – and, equally important, my kids also love them. Somehow, I think it was my mom who turned them into big chickpea fans when they were about 2 years old. They also love Indian food (I take responsibility for that one). So, besides hummus (which both of my kids enjoy), we regularly eat a homemade curried chickpea dish, mostly with rice and steamed broccoli (which has been my kids’ favorite vegetable simply forever – and I have no explanation at all for that one).
I’ve tweaked the recipe over the years, and it seems to us like it’s finally achieved perfection – I think it’s the large amounts of fresh garlic and ginger. And the cloves. And, I guess, all the other spices. Anyway, it’s yummy.
The recipe is on my website – http://www.naturallyradiant.info/site/curried-chickpeas/
Try it, and tell me what you think
Hey, if your kids love steamed broccoli, go with it.
Your recipe sounds delicious. I’ll definitely have to try it!
I was motivated to comment by the mention of fish sauce. I have some in the cupboard which was given to me when a friend moved and donated her pantry items to me. But the smell! I am scared to use it. I think this might be a reasonable start since only a little is used as a seasoning. Thanks for the stepping stone, Julie.
Brilliant. I made it tonight with chicken, carrots, and purple sweet potato. Thanks for helping me get over my fear. I think the smell of fish sauce is much stronger than the taste.
Hooooray! It definitely gets pretty mellow once you start cooking it and mixing it with other ingredients!
Curry is one of my favorite dishes. This recipe looks amazing!