Chickpea Curry

Chickpea Curry will soon become your new favorite quick and easy weeknight dinner recipe that also happens to be vegan!  This vegan chickpea curry recipe is made with loads of Indian spices, coconut milk, and tomatoes for a filling yet ultra healthy vegetarian Indian curry recipe!

Do you want a few other healthy curry recipes?  Check out this Korma Curry, Yellow Curry, Slow Cooker Chicken Curry and this Curry Cauliflower Rice.

There is one thing that is certain… ALL types of curry are the bomb.com.

I mean seriously… They are loaded with spices, normally can easily be made dairy-free by using coconut milk, secretly full of veggies, and they are super duper filling!

Once you learn the basics, it is a pretty simple process to whip up a nut-filled Korma Curry, Yellow Curry, or this easy vegetarian and vegan chickpea curry.

Below you will learn how to make chickpea curry, what ingredients are needed to make this recipe, the Indian spices you will need, what pot or skillet works best, and how to store, serve, and reheat this vegan curry recipe.

How to Make Chickpea Curry

Unlike other curry recipes that start with a curry paste, this easy chickpea curry recipe does not need one.  Therefore, it is a really quick one-pot meal that is super simple to clean up.

Here is a brief overview of the instructions:

1. First, sauté diced onion and jalapeño in a large pot or sauté pan.
2. Add garlic and ginger and continue sautéeing.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the spices.
4. Add spices to the pot with cherry tomatoes, drained garbanzo beans (or you learn how to cook chickpeas here), and a can of coconut milk.
5. Simmer chickpea curry until they are fork tender.  Serve curry over basmati rice or cauliflower rice and enjoy!

Ingredients

As mentioned previously, there are a few key ingredients that go into making this vegan curry recipe:

• Sweet onion – Feel free to use a red onion or yellow onion if you do not have a sweet onion.
• Garlic – While you can substitute garlic powder for the fresh garlic cloves, you will definitely taste a difference!
• Ginger – You don’t want to leave this out!

Cook’s Tip: While you can spend a lot of time grating fresh ginger, the ginger paste found in a tube tastes just as great in this recipe.

• Indian spices – See below for the exact spices you will need.
• Cherry tomatoes – You can also use vine-ripened tomatoes, or another tomato variety with a lot of flavor.  I would not suggest using roma tomatoes since they tend to be pretty watery and flavorless.
• Coconut milk – Totally up to you, but I have made this recipe with full-fat coconut milk and lite coconut milk.  Using lite coconut milk will still taste great but the consistency will be a bit more watery.
• Canned garbanzo beans – When locating these in the store the cans will either read “chickpeas” or oftentimes “garbanzo beans.”  These are the exact same thing and either will work.

Spices in Vegan Indian Curry

Much like many other Indian curry recipes, this chickpea curry has your common Indian spices:

• Curry powder – Pay attention to the label as these can come in mild, medium, and spicy.  Mild curry powder was tested in this recipe.
• Coriander – You don’t want to leave this one out!  This may be a little more challenging to locate, but trust me – it is worth the added depth of flavor it gives to this simple curry dish.
• Cumin – Often used in Mexican cuisine as well as Indian cuisine.  You probably already have it in your spice cabinet.
• Turmeric – Super easy to locate in your grocery store.

Cook’s Tip: Turmeric stains absolutely EVERYTHING.  When making this chickpea curry recipe make sure you either use a dark colored spoon/spatula, a stainless steel spatula, or one you do not care if it gets stained bright yellow.

• Paprika – Also super easy to find and gives the curry a little kick of spice.

Best Pot or Pan

As mentioned previously, the turmeric powder will stain just about everything it comes in contact with.  (Including our white quartz countertop!)  You will want to use one of the following pots or pans for the best results:

• Ceramic Dutch oven – This is my personal favorite to cook with since it is non-stick and the turmeric wipes out of it easily.
• Stainless steel Dutch oven or pot – These pots are great, too.  A little bit more work to clean up afterwards, but cooks the curry perfectly.  Just make sure it has a corresponding lid!

Can I Make this Chickpea Curry in the Crock-Pot or Instant Pot?

Yes, you absolutely can make this chickpea curry in the slow cooker or pressure cooker.

• Crock-Pot Chickpea Curry – Put all ingredients in the slow cooker and cook on low for 4 hours, or until chickpeas are tender.
• Instant Pot Chickpea Curry – Follow the instructions outlined below and sauté the onions, jalapeño, garlic, and ginger on the Sauté function.  Add remaining ingredients, close the pressure release valve and cook on High for 5 minutes.  Let the curry sit for 10 minutes before releasing the valve (a 10 minute NPR.)

How to Serve, Store, and Reheat

One of the best aspects of this chickpea curry, and just about ALL vegan Indian curry recipes, is that it seriously gets better with time.  The longer your leftovers sit in the refrigerator, the more they meld together and create an incredible flavor combination.

Serving Chickpea Curry – As you will see below, the recipe calls for cilantro to serve.  This is completely optional and while it does give a nice freshness to the dish, it will not be the end of the world if you do not have it.  Also, feel free to serve it with basmati rice, jasmine rice, white or brown rice, or cauliflower rice.

Refrigerating this Vegan Curry – Allow your curry to cool to room temperature in either the pot or in tupperware containers with the lids off before placing it into the refrigerator.  Chickpea curry will keep well for 4-5 days.

Freezing Chickpea Curry – This curry recipe will freeze exceptionally well.  Allow it to come to room temperature, and then come to refrigerator temperature before freezing.  Store curry in air-tight freezer-safe containers for 4-6 months.

This chickpea coconut curry will reheat remarkably well on the stovetop and actually thickens up a little bit when reheated.  If you are impatient, you can also reheat it in the microwave and have it ready to eat within 2 minutes.

Other Recipes You May Like:

Curry Cauliflower Rice

Slow Cooker Chicken Curry with Coconut Milk

Thai Green Chicken Curry

Korma Curry

Thai Yellow Curry

Vegetarian Lentil Soup

Potato Curry

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5 from 7 votes

Chickpea Curry Recipe | Vegan

Chickpea Curry will soon become your new favorite quick and easy weeknight dinner recipe that also happens to be vegetarian and vegan!

Yield 4 servings

Prep 5 minutes mins

Cook 25 minutes mins

Total 30 minutes mins

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Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• ▢ 1 sweet onion finely diced
• ▢ 1 jalapeno finely diced
• ▢ 2 garlic cloves crushed
• ▢ ½ tsp. ginger paste or grated fresh ginger
• ▢ 1 Tbsp. curry powder mild
• ▢ 1 tsp. coriander
• ▢ 1 tsp. cumin
• ▢ ½ tsp. turmeric
• ▢ ½ tsp. paprika
• ▢ 1 tsp. salt
• ▢ ¼ tsp. black pepper
• ▢ 1 tsp. sugar or coconut sugar
• ▢ 1 cup cherry tomatoes quartered
• ▢ 2 15- oz. cans chickpeas drained
• ▢ 1 15- oz. can coconut milk full fat or lite
• ▢ Basmati rice or cauliflower rice
• ▢ Cilantro optional

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Instructions 

• In a 5-6 qt. Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat add olive oil, jalapeño, and diced onion. Sauté for 5-6 minutes, or until onions are translucent.
• Add crushed garlic and ginger. Sauté for 1 minute.
• In a small bowl whisk together curry powder, coriander, cumin, turmeric, paprika, salt, pepper and sugar. Add spices to the pan and stir until well combined.
• Add tomatoes, chickpeas, and coconut milk. Stir until combined. Cook curry over medium heat for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to a Medium-Low heat where contents are simmering. Cover pot or pan with a lid and simmer for 12-15 minutes. Chickpeas should be fork tender.
• Serve chickpea curry over cooked basmati rice or sautéed cauliflower rice with a sprinkle of cilantro. Enjoy!

Last step! If you make this, please leave a review letting us know how it was!

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5 from 7 votes

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Notes

• If made with lite coconut milk the chickpea curry will not be quite as thick.
• Nutritional information is calculated with lite coconut milk and no rice.

Nutrition

Calories: 410kcal, Carbohydrates: 44g, Protein: 13g, Fat: 20g, Saturated Fat: 9g, Sodium: 1215mg, Potassium: 611mg, Fiber: 12g, Sugar: 3g, Vitamin A: 680IU, Vitamin C: 22.8mg, Calcium: 137mg, Iron: 5.9mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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