By now you would know that chickpeas are staple in my household; whether it is about Saahil’s lunch or a salad or a curry, chickpeas always comes to my mind first. They bake well, in a curry they hold up well with any spices used and my favorite is to have boiled chickpeas with some olive oil, salt, garlic and parsley … uff! Yummy!
This recipe, a chickpea curry flavored with homemade garam masala and coconut, thickened with cashews might not bring out the chana masala flavor but it’s delicious! Not every chickpea curry needs to be chana masala or chole! Right!!
Don’t think of skipping the lemon juice at end, it brings all flavors together! Trust me!
Happy Cooking!
Chickpea Cashew Curry
A hearty creamy chickpea curry flavored with homemade garam masala.
Ingredients
Garam Masala
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 star anise
- 1 blade mace
- 1/2 tsp black peppercorn
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- 2 cloves
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 2 green cardamom pods
Curry
- 2 cans of chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup cashews
- 1 can coconut milk
- 2 tbsp oil for cooking
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 5 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 tbsp fresh grated ginger
- 1/2 serrano chili minced
- 1 bunch of spinach trimmed, rinsed and chopped
- 1/4 tsp red chili powder or cayenne pepper
- juice of one lemon
- chopped cilantro for garnish
- salt per taste
Instructions
Garam Masala
- Toast cumin, coriander, star anise, cloves, cinnamon stick and peppercorns on a medium heat until aromatic.
- Combine the toasted spices with nutmeg, mace, turmeric and cardamom in a grinder and grind to a fine powder. Set aside.
Curry
- Heat the oil in a large sauce pan on a medium heat until shimmering.
- Add onions, ginger, garlic and chili; cook until onions are translucent while stirring frequently. About 10 minutes.
- Add red chili powder, cashew and half of the garam masala and cook for 30 seconds.
- Stir in coconut milk and remove from heat. Carefully scrape the bottom and transfer the mixture to a blender. Blend it until smooth.
- Return the mix to the pot, add chickpeas, spinach, remaining spice mix and salt as per taste; cook over low heat for 10-12 minutes.
- Remove from the heat, stir in the lemon juice and garnish with chopped cilantro.
- Serve warm on bed of rice or garlic naan.
Video
