Chickpea or channa is another protein-rich legume with abundant fibrous content. The origin of chickpea curry is the Indian subcontinent. This legume got the name “Channa” when Indian immigrants brought the delicacy to the Mediterranian islands and coasts of Trinidad and Tobago. The people of the island made chickpea as a delicious snack so that they could munch on these while working.
Also, chickpea plays a major role in the food history of the Middle East region. They had chickpea as one of the ingredients of the main course they have and wrote the hummus recipe. Today, hummus is one of the delicious delicacies carried from the middle east to everyone’s home! And they named it hummus because it literally translates to chickpea or “chickpea with tahini”, the main ingredient for hummus.
Preparing various dishes from chickpea
Other than preparing the chickpea curry as a great vegan alternative to diverse protein-rich meat options, this tasty ingredient fills up the pages of our cookbooks with various recipes to relish. For instance, you can prepare hummus- a mashed chickpea dish with various spices and seasonings. Also, you can prepare a bowl of healthy and nutritious chickpea salad, blended with loaded veggies. A great option for people following a diet plan!
Also, to treat your taste buds with some spicy curry, there comes chickpea curry. It gives the chickpea an Indian twist while retaining its nutritional value! The chickpea curry makes a great vegan dish without compensating for the delicacy factor.
Do not forget to try these other Indian curries of chickpea and legumes from the recipe pages of Yum Curry!
Channa chilli recipe– An evening snack made of chickpea with Indian spices and Chinese sauces.
Peanut masala– Roasted crunchy peanuts with a brief toss of Indian masalas.
Chole masala– A spicy curry that matches your poori and chappathi.
The bowl of wholly packed nutrition
Chickpea curry makes a great alternative to any meat dishes. Thus, a delicacy of a feast for the vegans. Also, this healthy vegan dish is enriched with protein and fibrous content. It is well-packed with diverse micronutrients such as Vitamin-B, Iron, Potassium and Selenium.
Thus, a healthy and tasty bowl of chickpea curry helps manage your appetite control, in turn maintaining your weight loss plan. Also, it focuses on keeping your heart condition normal, benefits your digestion process and controls your blood sugar level.
How to prepare the chickpea curry?
Firstly, add oil to a pan. Then add minced garlic and ginger with onion and saute them well. Add bell peppers and capsicum to the pan and cook them with the spices and masala powders. Then add the boiled chickpea and salt to the pan. Toss and blend the ingredients with tomato puree and water. Cook them for few minutes and a cup of shredded spinach leaves to the curry. In conclusion, add a teaspoon of black pepper powder and garnish the chickpea curry with coriander leaves and spring onions. Serve them hot along with rice or chappathi.
Tips to elevate the dish
Chickpea curry can be thick or thin. Thus, adjust the water content according to your taste and spice level.
While boiling the chickpea, always look out for the boiled ones by pressing a chickpea. If that gets mashed easily, we can infer that the chickpea is super boiled. But for the curry, the boiling consistency of the chickpea should be intermediate. For instance, neither hard nor soft.
You can also add veggies like broccoli or cauliflower to the curry. A brownie point to both the nutrition and taste factor of the dish.
In the place of chickpea, you can use black beans, kidney beans, lentils and peas. These are legumes equivalent to the taste and nutrition of channa/chole.
Tomato puree is the thick blend of reddish tomatoes with a little amount of salt and spices. In case you need instant curry, you can go with adding tomato ketchup to the gravy. But make sure that it is not high with sweet or sourness.
Toss a tsp of garlic and ginger, with a cup of chopped onion in the pan till they turn golden brown.
Then add a cup of sliced red bell peppers and capsicum to the pan and cook them well.
At this stage, add 1/2 tsp of turmeric, black pepper powder and garam masala, with a tsp of cumin powder. Cook them well till the raw smell is gone.
Then add the bowl of boiled chickpea with a tsp of salt. Let them cook till the salt blends in well.
Finally, add the tomato puree to the pan with 2 cups of water. Mix everything well. Let them boil for a few minutes.
After attaining a certain thickness, add 1/4th cup of spinach and 1/2 tsp of black pepper. Let them cook for few minutes.
Finally garnish the chickpea curry with coriander leaves and serve them hot with rice.
Notes
Before boiling chickpea , wash and soak them overnight.If you are using pressure cooker, make sure you the chickpea for 6-7 whistles.If you are microwaving the chickpea, cover them and cook them in the oven for 25 minutes. Stir 2, 3 times in between and let it rest inside for 8-10 minutes.
Firstly, boil the channa/chole/Kabuli in a pressure cooker or microwave. Keep them aside.
In a pan, add a tablespoon of oil. To that, add a teaspoon of ginger, garlic and a cup of chopped onions. Fry till they turn golden brown.
Secondly, add a cup of sliced bell peppers and capsicum to the pan. Cook them well.
To this veggie mix, it’s now time to add 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric, garam masala and black pepper powder. Then add a teaspoon of cumin powder. Cook well till we remove the raw smell of spices.
Thirdly, add the boiled channa to the pan with a teaspoon of salt.
Add a cup of thick tomato puree. To adjust the consistency, add 2 cups of water. Let them boil and cook for a few minutes.
Finally, add 1/4th cup of spinach leaves to the curry and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper powder.
Give them a final mix. Garnish the vegan chickpea curry with coriander leaves and serve them hot!
