Creamy Coconut Chickpea Curry

Serves 9
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Directions

  1. 1Soak the chickpeas overnight in plenty of water, then drain and rinse them.
  2. 2Put the chickpeas in a big pot with plenty of fresh water, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until almost tender, about an hour.
  3. 3Drain chickpeas
  4. 4Toast whole spices in a dry pan until fragrant, then grind them in a coffee grinder.
  5. 5Peel and chop the onion, bell pepper, fresh chilies, and garlic.
  6. 6Brown the onion in a pan with some oil on pretty aggressive heat, then add the peppers and garlic, stirring frequently.
  7. 7Take the lanterns off the tomatillos and chop them up
  8. 8When the stuff in the pan is quite brown, stir in the tomatillos, using their moisture to deglaze the pan.
  9. 9When tomatillos are soft and brown, stir in the tomatoes and their liquid, and smash the tomatoes.
  10. 10Stir in your spice mixture and a big splash of white wine (if using).
  11. 11Simmer for about an hour, until everything is soft and mushy, replenishing with more wine or water if needed.
  12. 12Wash and drain the rice, add the cooking water (your index fingertip to the surface of the rice and fill with water until water comes up to the crease behind your first knuckle), stir in a pinch of salt and some whole mustard seeds
  13. 13Cover, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook until all water is absorbed (about 15 minutes), then fluff with a fork and hold in on warm until you're ready to eat.
  14. 14Pass the sauce though a sieve into a bowl.
  15. 15Discard the remaining skins and other solid vegetable matter.
  16. 16Stir the smooth sauce into the drained chickpeas.
  17. 17Chop the green beans into bite-size pieces and stir them in with the chickpeas, along with the coconut cream and stock cubes.
  18. 18Simmer until everything is tender and the stock cubes are dissolved.
  19. 19Taste for seasoning, and add salt and sugar to taste, if needed.
  20. 20Serve on rice with cilantro and chili powder on the side.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb dry chickpeas
  • 1 lb fresh green beans
  • 1 lb fresh tomatillos
  • 28 oz whole plum tomatoes
  • 14 oz coconut cream
  • 1 onion
  • 1 bell pepper
  • 2 fresh chilies
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 3 tablespoons Indian-style spice mixture (cardamom pods, fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and black peppercorns)
  • 0.5 cup basmati rice
  • 2 stock cubes
  • optional mustard seeds
  • optional chili powder
  • optional white wine
  • optional sugar
  • fresh cilantro
  • salt
  • oil

Equipment

big potbig pancoffee grinderwooden spoonsieveknife

Tips

  • Soak dry chickpeas overnight to double in size.
  • Browning the onion and peppers well adds depth of flavor.
  • Taste and adjust seasoning throughout the cooking process.
  • To avoid animal products, check that your wine is not made with egg albumin or other animal proteins used as a clarifying agent
  • Can freeze very well.