# Coconut Chickpea Curry

Coconut Chickpea Curry — a easy recipe with 6 main ingredients, ready in about 30 min and serving 4. Check which of its ingredients are on sale at grocery stores near you.

- **Time:** 30 min
- **Serves:** 4
- **Difficulty:** easy
- **Tags:** dinner, quick, indian, vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free
- **Source:** https://savingrecipes.com/recipes/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

1. Cook rice. Soften onion in oil; bloom curry powder and garlic 1 min.
2. Add chickpeas, tomatoes, and coconut milk; simmer 15 min.
3. 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.


_Photo: Parzeus — CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chana_Masala_in_Paul%C3%ADnia,_2023-10-16.jpg)_