🍛 Coconut Chickpea Curry
Ingredients
- 2 cans chickpeas
- 1 can coconut milk
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1 onion
- Baby spinach
- 1 cup rice
- Curry powder & garlic (pantry staple)
- 2 tbsp olive oil (pantry staple)
- Salt & pepper (pantry staple)
Instructions
- Cook rice. Soften onion in oil; bloom curry powder and garlic 1 min.
- Add chickpeas, tomatoes, and coconut milk; simmer 15 min.
- Wilt in spinach; season and serve over rice.
Tips
- Bloom the curry powder in the hot oil for a full minute before any liquid goes in. Raw spice stirred into liquid tastes dusty; toasted spice tastes like a curry.
- Don't pour all the chickpea liquid away. A few tablespoons of that starchy canning liquid thickens the sauce better than simmering it down.
- Add the spinach off the heat. It wilts in the residual warmth in under a minute and stays green instead of going grey.
Substitutions
- Chickpeas
- Any firm canned bean — cannellini, butter beans, black-eyed peas. Red lentils work too but break down into a thicker, dal-like sauce; add 10 minutes.
- Coconut milk
- Full-fat gives the richest sauce. Light works but thins out — a spoonful of peanut or cashew butter restores the body.
- Baby spinach
- Kale (add 5 minutes earlier, it's tougher), chard, or frozen spinach squeezed dry.
- Curry powder
- 1 tsp each ground cumin, coriander and turmeric, plus ½ tsp garam masala and a pinch of chilli.
Storage & reheating
Keeps 5 days refrigerated and tastes better on day two once the spices settle. Freezes 3 months. Coconut milk can look split after thawing — warm gently and stir and it comes back together. Store the rice separately.
Common questions
Is this actually vegan?
Yes as written — coconut milk replaces dairy entirely. Check your curry powder blend, as a few contain milk powder.
How do I make it spicier?
Add a chopped fresh chilli with the onion, or stir cayenne into the curry powder. Heat added at the blooming stage spreads through the sauce; added at the end it tastes sharp and separate.
My sauce is too thin — what now?
Simmer uncovered for 5 more minutes, or mash a ladleful of the chickpeas against the side of the pan and stir it back in. The starch thickens it without diluting the flavour.