This comforting vegetable chickpea curry with coconut milk is a delicious vegan dinner that is perfect for using leftover vegetables in your fridge, made it one pot and ready in 45-minutes.
One of my favourite vegetarian dinners is a delicious Indian-inspired curry, loaded with vegetables, coconut milk and chickpeas. It’s comforting and warming also naturally gluten free. It’s perfect for those nights when you want to feel really good about the food that you’re eating.
If you don’t have chickpeas on hand, I also love making a lentil curry with sweet potatoes, which cooks even faster (under 30 minutes)!
Why this recipe works
One of the best things about this recipe is that it’s made in one pot. This makes it really quick and easy to make and to cleanup.
It essentially cooks in two steps; the first step is to cook the onions and spices, and the second step is to cook the vegetables in a creamy curried coconut sauce.
Ingredient notes
- I use a store bought curry powder in this recipe which isn’t an ingredient that is typically used in India. The spices in the curry powder I use are coriander, turmeric, celery seed, fenugreek, black pepper, cumin, ginger, nutmeg, chili pepper, bay leave, onion powder and cloves.
- I also like to add some additional coriander, cumin, turmeric and hot chili flakes for spice.
- I opt for full fat coconut milk, which makes the curry creamy and delicious, but you could use for light coconut milk as well without any problems.
- The combination of veggies I like best are what are used in this recipe; sweet potatoes, cauliflower, green beans, and diced tomatoes.
Expert tips
- The vegetables you use are pretty forgiving and can be easily substituted with whatever you have on hand. The key is to make sure that the veggies cook in the same amount of time. I’ve made homemade curries successfully with broccoli, potatoes and bell peppers.
- If you want some greens added, stir in fresh spinach or kale during the last couple minutes of cooking. I also love to add frozen peas for extra pops of green.
- This cooks uncovered so that your resulting dish is creamy and saucy. Because we’re cooking vegetables directly in the liquid, they’ll release water as they cook, if you cook this dish covered, your curry will end up more on the watery side. Be sure to simmer it uncovered!
Frequently asked questions
Because of the water content of a lot of these vegetables, I wouldn’t freeze this after cooking. I don’t think the vegetables would hold up well to freezing.
There are a few things that could happen here. If you’ve burnt the garlic or onions, or toasted the spices for too long. To counteract the bitterness, you can add some sugar and a little more salt.
Vegetable Chickpea Curry
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 tbsp minced ginger
- 1 tsp salt, divided
- 2 tbsp curry powder
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp hot pepper flakes, optional
- 1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 13.5 oz can coconut milk
- 1 cup water
- 2 carrots, sliced
- 1 medium sweet potato, diced (about 1 ½-2 cups)
- 1 cup chopped green beans
- ½ head cauliflower, chopped
- 1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Cook onions for 3 minutes or until lightly golden and very fragrant. Add garlic, ginger and ½ tsp salt. Cook for another minute. Add curry powder, coriander, cumin, and turmeric, stirring to cook, another 30 seconds.
- Add diced tomatoes, coconut milk, water and remaining ½ tsp salt. Add carrots, sweet potato, green beans, cauliflower and chickpeas. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook uncovered for 15 minutes.
Notes
- I cut the vegetables into a ½″ dice which helps them cook in 15 minutes.
- If you don’t want any spice, you can leave out the chili flakes. If you want more head, feel free to add more.
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