Chickpeas don’t appear often enough in my dishes. Call it laziness, or impatience. Whenever I want to whip up something simple and meatless, I usually head straight for lentils, quinoa, barley, any dry grain that doesn’t take over an hour to prepare.
Yesterday, for once, I planned my dinner early. I set my dried chickpeas on the stove and went back to work for an hour. For once I had no hunger pangs to distract me or tell me to screw the long cooking times and just get dumplings next door instead.
The sauce part takes little time. Just soften the onions and carrots, stir in the curry paste and coconut milk, and add spinach towards the end. Finishing with Thai basil and a squeeze of lime juice, I had a basic, hearty, and portable bowl of curry to eat laptop-side.
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Weeknight Chickpea Vegetable Curry
Serves 2
- 1 cup dried chickpeas (if using canned, skip first step)
- 1 medium red onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup carrots, diced
- 3 tablespoons yellow curry paste
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1 handful spinach, rinsed
- 1 small handful Thai basil
- Salt to taste
- Lime wedgest
- Rinse the dried chickpeas and place in a pot of water to cover by at least 2 inches. Boil for 45 to 50 minutes to cook.
- In a medium-sized saucepan, sauté the onions and garlic for about 2 minutes. Add the carrots, then stir in the curry paste and coconut milk. Simmer for 10 minutes, until the sauce is reduced by half. Add the spinach and Thai basil and cook for another 2 minutes. Salt to taste. Serve with lime wedges.
OMG, this looks so incredibly delicious! I’ve cooked with curry pastes before, but never thought to combine it with chickpeas and spinach like this. Currently, we only have access to Massaman and red curry paste – do you think it could work with either of those? Thanks for the inspiration!
Are chickpeas used much in Chinese cooking? Any particular regions use it more?
Where do you find dried chickpeas in China? What’s the Chinese name for them? Are they something you can find most anywhere or is it a big city specialty?
Audrey – Massaman would be good, since this dish is meant to be a tiny bit sweet. And you may not have to add sugar.
Nate – Not much in traditional Han Chinese food. Mainly in the cuisine of Xinjiang (far western China). There, chickpeas are used in salads and spreads.
Jonathan – They’re called yīnzuǐdòu (鹰嘴豆). Where are you in China? There’s a Hong Kong organic brand called Green Dot that’s available in a lot of big supermarkets (including Carrefour) and import stores. I’ve seen them in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. Also good bets would be stores carrying Xinjiang products, or a Muslim area if your town has one.
Looks great… I thought I was the only one who ate laptop side. haha.
Just wanted to let you know that I did try this dish with Massaman curry and it was delicious. I left out the sugar. Thanks for the inspiration!
I am a cook at a facility and we have 140 patients. I’m always looking for vegetarian choice because we aren’t very creative. I appreciate this recipe and will give it a shot and see how it goes over. Thanks.