Coconut Chickpea Curry
The recipe below first published a couple of years ago in the food section of the New York Times was an instant hit. The author, Allison Roman calls it a stew, but the ingredients and cooking technique pretty much shout out curry to me. I halved all the ingredients in the original recipe except for the swiss chard and mint, and usually serve it as a side to Burmese Chicken Curry.
Ingredients:
1 15oz. can chickpea drained and rinsed
1 15oz. can coconut milk
1 cup of vegetable or chicken stock
1 yellow onion chopped
1 piece of fresh ginger grated (about 2”)
4 cloves of garlic minced
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
1 heaping teaspoon red pepper flakes
½ cup olive oil
2 bunches of swiss chard
1 cup finely chopped fresh mint
Warm a 2-quart sauté pan over medium high heat. Add olive oil, chopped onion, minced garlic, grated ginger and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir to combine, lower heat and cover for about 5 minutes until the onions start to soften, then add the turmeric, salt, and red pepper flakes.
Next add the chickpeas and toss to combine. Raise the heat, shaking the pan a bit and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes. Scoop out a cup of the chickpea mixture and set aside. Mash the rest of the chickpeas slightly, leaving mashed bits and chunky bits. Slowly add the stock while scraping the bottom of the pan to get up all the brown bits. Now add the coconut milk and the reserved chickpeas. Lower the heat and cook at a low simmer for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring occasionally. While the curry is cooking, strip the swiss chard leaves from the stems, wash and chop into ½” ribbons. When ready toss in the chard and mint. Cook for 3-4 more minutes. Serve over rice.
Adapted from Allison Roman’s Spicy Chickpea Stew with Coconut and Turmeric in the NYT
