Finally – a chickpea recipe worth making!!! With a simple coconut curry sauce made with astonishingly few ingredients, this Brazilian Chickpea Curry transforms lifeless cans of chickpeas into something that sounds exotic, smells enticing, and tastes so, so good….
This is a recipe we regularly make at our food bank, RecipeTin Meals, because it ticks a lot of boxes:our patrons love it, it’s easy to scale up, economical, gluten-free, freezes perfectly!
Brazilian Chickpea Curry
The sauce for this curry is swiped from Brazilian Fish Stew, a traditional Brazilian dish that’s been a reader favourite for many years now. It tastes like a coconut curry, yet it’s made with just 2 spices – paprika and cumin. Far simpler than most of the from-scratch curry pastes I’ve shared over the years!
That fish stew really is all about that sauce, so it was inevitable that I’d start playing around with other ways to use it. Chicken – done. Shrimp/prawns – a winner.
And it turns out it can also totally transform a dull looking can of chickpeas into something totally fabulous!!
What you need for Brazilian Chickpea Curry
Here’s what you need.
Just a few notes on some of the ingredients:
Chickpeas – canned for convenience, dried if you prefer (directions in notes)
Cayenne pepper is optional – it’s for a kick of spice. Because, well, you know. Curry. Spicy.
Coriander haters – sub with chives.
Baby Spinach – it’s just to cram some extra greens in. Sub with kale or anything leafy that’s wiltable.
How to make this Chickpea Curry
All in one pot – and it comes together quickly. Once you sauté the onion, garlic and capsicum, you literally just dump everything else in then leave to simmer for 10 minutes to let the sauce thicken.
That is one mighty delicious bowl for something that requires relatively little effort with a “normal” ingredients list.
It’s got a nice workflow flow to it as well. There’s no need to measure out all the spices etc before you start cooking. You pop open the cans and dump them into the pot. Then just measure the spices straight from the jar into the pot.
Oh – speaking of “pot” – I keep saying “pot” even though you see a skillet in the photos and video. The skillet I used was too small – I had to stir the sauce so carefully to avoid spillage.
Don’t make my mistake. Use a pot so you can stir enthusiastically and with abundance. – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Brazilian Coconut Chickpea Curry
Ingredients
Chickpea Curry:
- 1.5 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion , finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 red capsicum/bell peppers , cut into 3 x 0.75cm / 1.25 x 1/3″” strips
- 2 cans chickpeas , drained (Note 1)
- 400ml/14oz coconut milk , full fat for best flavour (Note 2)
- 400ml/14oz can crushed tomato
- 1 cup (250ml) chicken or vegetable stock/broth , low sodium
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1/2 – 1 tsp cayenne pepper (adjust spiciness to taste)
- 1.5 tsp sugar (any type)
- 0.5 tsp salt
- 50g / 2oz baby spinach leaves (or kale)
Finishing & Serving:
- 3 tbsp coriander/cilantro , roughly chopped, plus more for serving (Note 3)
- 1 tbsp lime juice , plus extra wedges for serving
- Yogurt (optional)
- Rice – or something to soak up the sauce (Note 4)
Instructions
- Heat oil in a pot or large deep skillet over high heat. Add garlic and onion, cook for 1 minute.
- Add capsicum, cook for 2 minutes until onion is translucent and slightly golden on edges.
- Add remaining Curry ingredients except baby spinach. Stir, bring to simmer then lower to medium low so it’s simmering gently.
- Simmer 12 – 15 minutes until it changes from pale pink to an orangey red colour.
- Stir in spinach until just wilted, then stir in coriander and lime juice. Add more salt it needed.
- Serve over rice with a dollop of yogurt, extra sprinkle of coriander and squeeze of lime (don’t go overboard, I often do and it’s too sour!)
Recipe Notes:
- STOVE: soak overnight in lots of water. Pick out anything that doesn’t look like chickpeas that floats to the surface. Place in a saucepan with 3 cups of water and simmer on medium for 40 – 50 minutes (depends on chickpea size) until they are very soft. Skim off any skin that floats to the surface. Drain, proceed with recipe.
- PRESSURE COOKER: No soaking required, cover with 3 cups of water and cook 45 minutes on high.
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
You’d think I had a stash of treats in my slippers or something, the way he was snuffling around inside it! (Just to confirm, I did not)
Fabulous for Meat free Monday! Thank you x
Delicious! I used a 8 oz pkg of frozen spinach and added chicken thighs for a one pot quick and easy meal. Freezes perfectly
Super simple and really tasty! Great work night meal.
I come back to Nagi for inspiration again and again because…
1) there’s always a recipe that I really want to try.
2) Her recipes work and taste delicious.
3) ‘You literally just dump everything in’ is a frequent instruction’!
Minimum effort; maximum payback: my kinda cooking.
When using coconut milk, can you taste the coconut? I don’t like coconut.
Thank you for the recipe…. I got very excited as it’s simple, looks flavorful and have been looking for more meat free ideas. However the amount of saturated fat was astonishing! I’m guessing that’s from the full fat coconut milk. Would it be significantly lower if using light or anything to sub for it? Then to me it’s a real winner!!!!
Yum! Added cauliflower to bulk it up and cooked a little longer. Served with rice.
Yum!
Please could you advise which type of paprika is best – I have 3 in the cupboard – hot/smokey/Hungarian sweet?
Quick, easy and delicious! Regularly make this dish and my 3 kids under 4 love it.
We adore this curry in our house, it’s one of our favourite meat-free meals. Hubby accidentally used smoked paprika instead of regular/sweet when making it the first time and we now use a mixture of both as it makes it even more delicious.
Love the flavours in this recipe and a great family meal when my vegan daughter visits
This chickpea curry is easy and amazing!
I love your website and food. tried so many things and all always works out to some extent.
The one thing I noticed is my things do not thicken as yours. This is not the first recepie that this happened. note for others, try adding less liquids (stock or tomatoes) and if needs to be you can add them later after simmering.
as someone mentioned add chickpea from can later so it won’t gey mushy
I find if I cook it for longer, it will thicken and a bit more as it it cools down.
Sooo good and really easy! New addition to the favorite meal rotation.
I really enjoyed the unique flavors of this dish. It was easy to prepare and eat. 😉
Thank you for another yummy dish, Nagi!!
Hi Nagi,
Once again you have created a delicious recipe! I made this for lunch yesterday for my husband and I and we really enjoyed it. The flavours are great but not overpowering and the fact that it freezes well is a real bonus too. I will definitely be making this again. Thanks so much for providing these recipes.
One of my faves now and SO EASY and so tasty! Thanks again Nagi!
Delicious thanks you.
Wow Nagi 🤩
I just made this, and it’s another keeper. Simple and delicious.
Thanks 😊 Monica
This was great, really quick and easy. I added kale and potato but will try sweet potato next time. Even better next day. Lime juice and yoghurt really make it