Chickpea Coconut Curry

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Inspired by a Bengali recipe.

During my masters studies in Grenoble, I got invited by some Indian friends to an Indian night. We cooked together amazing dishes, and one of them was Chingri Malai curry, which is coconut shrimp curry. I absolutely loved the taste and asked my friend for the recipe. Later, I felt like this recipe could work with chicken, so I tried it, and it was delicious. To make it vegetarian, I even tried it with chickpeas, and the result was as magnificent. Today, this easy chickpea coconut curry is my go-to whenever I want an explosion of flavors in little preparation time!

Ingredients

For 4-5 portions, you need:

• 600g precooked chickpeas (I used 400g, but then realized 600g would have been better).
• 1 large onion or 2-3 small ones
• 2-3 garlic cloves
• 1.5 tbsp minced ginger
• 1 can coconut milk (yes, use the canned ones)
• 1-2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon butter (optional – use ghee if available instead of the vegetable oil and butter mixture)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4-5 cardamom pods
• 4-5 cloves
• 2 teaspoons turmeric
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon red chilli powder (use Kashmiri red chilli powder if available)
• 2 teaspoons garam masala
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• Salt to taste

Procedure

1. Start by chopping your onions and finely mincing or grating your garlic and ginger. Add some salt to the garlic ginger mixture and, with the edge of the knife, start crushing it to form a paste.
2. In a heated pot, add the vegetable oil and butter (or ghee), then add the whole spices. Sauté for a little bit before adding the onions with salt to taste.
3. Once the onions are translucent, add the ginger garlic paste and mix for about 1 minute.
4. Add the ground spices except the garam masala, and mix for about 2 minutes to release their flavor.
5. Add the tomato paste and mix to cook it a bit as well.
6. Now add the chickpeas and let them be coated by all the flavor in the pot.
7. Add the coconut milk and mix until homogenous, then let simmer for about 15 minutes so that the chickpeas absorb some of the flavor.
8. Finally, mix in two teaspoons of garam masala. Serve on top of rice, garnish with some chopped cilantro, and enjoy!
   • Tip: When you cook the rice, add 3-4 cardamom pods or some ground cardamom while cooking. The flavor would be immaculate especially with this recipe!