This Indian-inspired coconut chickpea curry recipe is incredibly easy to make in less than 30 minutes and simmered in the most delicious lemon-ginger coconut curry sauce.
When you’re craving a flavorful, feel-good, quick vegetarian dinner, it doesn’t get much easier than this cozy chickpea curry.
Inspired by Indian chana masala, this chickpea curry is one of those gloriously simple meals that only requires you to briefly chop two ingredients (hi, onion and garlic!). Then everything else is simply stirred in and simmered together until the sauce bubbles up to creamy, vibrant, delicious perfection. Served warm over rice and drizzled with an extra squeeze of lemon, I’m telling you, this chickpea curry feels like the coziest hug in a bowl. And my goodness, is it delicious. ♡
The coconut curry sauce here is already naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free, simmered with tomatoes, ginger, garlic, and a rich blend of seasonings. And while I chose to keep things simple in this batch by just wilting a few handfuls of spinach in with the chickpeas, you would of course be welcome to add in any extra veggies or proteins that happen to sound good too.
We find ourselves returning to this curry recipe here in our family constantly since it mainly uses pantry ingredients that we always have on hand. So if you’re looking for a last-minute idea for dinner tonight too, grab a few cans of chickpeas and let’s make a big pot of curry together!
Chickpea Curry Recipe | 1-Minute Video
Chickpea Curry Ingredients
Before we get to the full chickpea curry recipe below, here are a few notes about the ingredients you will need:
- Onion and garlic: These are the only two ingredients that you need to chop and will serve as the base aromatics for our sauté.
- Fresh ginger: I highly recommend using fresh instead of ground ginger for richest flavor, which you can either grate or finely-mince. That said, if you do not have fresh ginger on hand, you can sub in 1 teaspoon ground ginger instead.
- Dried spices: We’ll use a simple blend of garam masala, ground cumin, and ground turmeric, which we will sauté briefly with the onion and garlic to enhance their flavors. We’ll also use fine sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper for seasoning.
- Chickpeas: I always opt for canned chickpeas to make this recipe extra quick and easy, but you are welcome to cook your own chickpeas from scratch if you prefer.
- Coconut milk: This is my go-to brand of coconut milk, which is always wonderfully thick and creamy and tastes delicious in this coconut chickpea curry.
- Diced tomatoes: I recommend using fire-roasted diced tomatoes if possible, but plain diced tomatoes will also work perfectly well here.
- Greens: I tossed a few handfuls of baby spinach into this batch, but kale or collard greens would also work well.
- Lemon: I always like to add a hint of fresh lemon juice to the pot of curry, and then serve each bowl with a few extra lemon wedges on the side for squeezing. (I personally prefer this curry very lemony!)
- Fresh cilantro: I love topping this curry with lots of fresh cilantro, but feel free to omit if cilantro’s not your thing.
Chickpea Curry Variations
Here are a few more ways that you’re welcome to customize this chickpea curry recipe to your liking:
- Make it spicier: Sauté a fresh chile pepper (Thai chile, jalapeño, serrano, etc) along with the garlic and onion, or simmer extra crushed red chili peppers or cayenne in the sauce.
- Use cream or half and half: If you’d rather not use coconut milk, you’re welcome to sub in heavy cream or half and half instead.
- Add a protein: Chicken, beef, pork, meatballs, or shrimp would all go well with this curry if you would like to add a protein.
More Favorite Curry Recipes
Looking for more cozy curry recipes to try? Here are a few of our faves:
Quick Chickpea Curry
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium white onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- cayenne and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1 (15-ounce) can coconut milk
- 1 (15-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 1 large handful fresh baby spinach
- 1 tablespoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice, plus extra lemon wedges for serving
- chopped fresh cilantro, for topping
Instructions
- Sauté veggies. Heat oil in a large stockpot or sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add the garlic, grated ginger, garam masala, salt, cumin, turmeric, a pinch of cayenne, and a few twists of black pepper and sauté for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Simmer. Add the chickpeas, coconut milk, diced tomatoes and stir to combine. Continue cooking until the sauce reaches a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low to maintain the simmer, and cook for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Finish. Add the baby spinach and lemon and stir until the spinach has wilted.
- Season. Taste and season the sauce with additional salt, pepper and/or lemon juice, if needed.
- Serve. Serve warm over rice, garnished with fresh cilantro and extra lemon wedges. Enjoy!
Notes
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
It was a good dish but it wasn’t the typical Channa (Indian chickpea) dish we were expecting. It seemed like it was missing something but I don’t know what exactly. Still a good dish.
Delicious and easy! The spices were not too over powering for my 5 year old, which was great. Will make again!
Absolutely delicious! So easy, love the 1 skillet dinners. Huge fan of your recipes!
I made it *mostly* as written, except for the spinach, which I didn’t have. BUT, once the dish had simmered, I added a small bag of frozen cauliflower and broccoli to bulk up the veggie content. It was delicious! I served it over rice the first night, and with naan for lunch the next day. Thank you for sharing this easy but satisfying dish!
Tonite is my 2nd time making this dish and it doesn’t disappoint! I was in the office like I need something warm on this dreary day. I made a sausage stirfry with rice last nite for my kids so I already had rice made and I’m like what is something quick and easy I can make for myself tonite? And I began thinking like I have rice, I have chickpeas, I need something warm and spicy. I revisited this recipe and I legit just said last nite that I needed to use a bag of spinach before it went bad. I couldn’t even hit the door good before I started chopping the onion and garlic, ginger, pulled all the spices I needed. Paired with a delicious romaine and cauliflower salad, I was in heaven. The flavor is just amazing. Such a great dish and no ingredients are exceptional. I literally keep all of these ingredients on hand always which makes it super fast to pull together.
This is the first curry I’ve ever made and it is delicious! Has a bit of eat and is creamy and filling. Makes enough for a family, or in my case, lunches! BTW: smells amazing while it simmers. ❤️
Hi, I tried this last night and it turned out wonderful. Making something like this is completely out of my comfort zone, but your instructions were clear and simple and although it took me much longer than 30 minutes I was able to do it. Thank you for putting something tasty out there that I felt comfortable enough to try. I’ll be back for more recipes!
My family loved this! Thanks so much.
This was a big hit at our house and will be a winter staple! My husband is not vegan and was worried he would not like this as a main course. He loved it!! The rich spices and textures of the chick peas and cauliflower over quinoa were the perfect combination!
Exactly what i needed today and also i may have purchased a dozen cans of chick peas. This is so simple and so flavorful i absolutely loved it! Thank you so much you are a go to for new and favorite recipes.