Thai Chickpea Curry

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Chickpeas are one of my favorite type of beans and I use them often. Considering how much I like chickpeas and how frequently it appears in my kitchen, it surprises me to find that there are barely a couple of dishes with chickpeas on this site. That is something I would like to remedy soon and this Thai chickpea curry is a great place to start. 

I soaked the chickpeas with the idea of making chana masala with it. Somehow, between the time I soaked the beans and the time that I was ready to make it, the idea of chana masala lost its appeal and I wanted something different. I liked the idea of thai curry with chickpeas, and using this recipe as my reference I started on this curry.The combination of chickpeas with vegetables in a light and flavorful gravy was very tasty and we enjoyed it with some plain steamed rice.



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Ingredients and Method to make Thai Chickpea Curry

1 1/2 cups dried chickpeas soaked in sufficient water for 6 to 8 hours with a pinch of soda (the soda is optional)
2 medium onions cut fine
1 medium tomato
2 large carrots cut into circles
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 large green bell pepper (capsicum) deseeded and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

salt to taste
3 tsp red Thai curry paste ( I used Thai kitchen because it is vegan)
2 tbsp soy sauce
3/4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp chili powder (or to taste)
1/2 cup coconut milk
Approximately 1 1/2 cups of water (or as required to achieve consistency)
1/2 bunch cilantro(coriander leaves) cut fine for garnish

Drain the water the beans have been soaked in and fill with fresh water and either pressure cook or cook on stove top, until the beans are cooked and soft but not mushy. ( I used the pressure cooker)


To know why I soak beans with a pinch of soda and why the bean soak water is suggested to be drained read this post

Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed pan, add onions and saute until onions are transparent.
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Add garlic and stir for a few seconds, then add tomato and saute until tomato is cooked and soft.

Add carrots and bell pepper, and stir frequently until both are cooked yet firm.

Add red thai curry paste, soy sauce, chili powder and stir a couple of times.

Add cooked chickpeas, salt to taste, sugar and coconut milk.

Add water to achieve required consistency, allow the curry to simmer for a few minutes until the flavors come together.

Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with plain steamed jasmine rice or plain steamed basmati rice.

Serves approximately 2 to 3

Notes
If you like a creamier curry you can increase the quantity of coconut milk by 1/2 a cup, I wanted a little lighter gravy so I used only 1/2 a cup of coconut milk

If you are a vegetarian or vegan and you are buying thai curry paste, do read the labels because some of them have fish sauce in them, this particular brand that I use is vegan.

This curry is off to the MLLA 22 event being hosted by Ruchika  originally started by Susan