Description

Chickpea curry can be made with a wide variety of veggies and protein. This is the perfect, easy, meal to make the most of whatever you already have on hand. So warming, comforting, and satisfying.

Ingredients

Units Scale

For serving

white or brown rice, or cauliflower rice

For the tofu (see notes for more options)

1 package organic extra firm tofu, drained from liquid
1 tablespoon soy sauce, gluten free soy sauce, or coconut aminos
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon corn starch, or arrowroot starch

For the curry

1 tablespoon coconut oil, or avocado oil, or ghee
1/2 yellow or white onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 inch ginger, grated
Optional: red pepper flakes, to taste
1 zucchini, sliced (see notes for substitutions)
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 15 ounce can full fat coconut milk
1 tablespoon curry powder (see notes)
1 15 ounce can (2 cups) of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Juice of 1/2 lime
2 to 4 teaspoons honey or coconut sugar
Optional: few dashes of fish sauce
salt to taste

For garnish

cilantro leaves or chopped green onion
lime wedges

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Instructions

Prepare: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. And line a medium rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper Set aside. At this time you can also start cooking your rice. Unless you plan to use some microwave rice (3 to 4 minutes), a short cut that I often take advantage of.
Press the tofu: Drain the tofu from water (at this point you can use a tofu press if you have one and skip the next step) cut the tofu into 1 inch bite sized cubes. Place the cubes on a few layers of paper towels or a clean, lint free kitchen towel, cover the top with more paper towels or the other end of the kitchen towel. Place a cutting board on top of the tofu and place 2 to 4 heavy jars or cans on top of the tofu. Allow the tofu to dry out while you prepare the other ingredients. If you have time to do this step 30 minutes in advance it is best for resulting in a crispier tofu, but okay doing at beginning of recipe.
Prep the veggies: chop all the veggies as instructed above and place them in separate bowls so that they are ready to go.
Cook the tofu: Toss the drained tofu in a bowl with olive oil and the gluten free soy sauce/gluten free soy sauce/coconut aminos until the tofu is well coated. Add the corn starch/arrowroot powder and toss until well coated. Transfer to the baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake closest to the heat source for 25 to 30 minutes, flipping half way through. The tofu is done when it’s nicely browned and slightly crispy.
Make the curry: Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Melt the coconut oil, or ghee. Add the onions, saute for 5 minutes. Add the zucchini, and red bell pepper, saute for 3 minutes. Add the ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes (omit these if using homemade curry paste), saute for another minute. Stir in the coconut milk, turn up the heat to medium high to bring the to a simmer. (NOTE: if using homemade curry paste add the 2 tablespoons of it at this time). Stir in the curry powder (omit if using homemade curry paste), and add the drained and rinsed chickpeas. Simmer for 5 minutes, just until everything is heated through. Add the lime juice, honey or coconut sugar, and fish sauce. Add salt to taste. Remove from the heat.
To serve: Add some rice to each serving bowl. Spoon over the chickpea curry sauce making sure to get a good amount of the saucy liquid. Add a few pieces of tofu to each bowl, and garnish with cilantro leaves and lime wedges, if desired. Enjoy hot.
For leftovers: Store any leftovers in separate containers. To re-heat the tofu saute it for a few minutes in a nonstick skillet with little coconut oil, it will crisp right back up.

Notes

Protein Options: Instead of tofu you could use chicken, shrimp, or even omit an extra protein all together and double up on the cans of chickpeas. For the chicken I would recommend cutting it into 1 inch pieces, seasoning it well with salt and pepper and cooking it in the skillet, removing it, and then proceeding with the recipe as normal. Same with the shrimp.

Veggie substitutions: I created this recipe to make use of what you already have on hand, use any kind of veggie you have on hand, or like. Some ideas are: cauliflower, broccoli, kale, spinach, or sweet potato. For the sweet potato you will want to cube it, and either steam it, or roast it in a 400 degree oven for 15 to 25 minutes or until tender. Add the cooked sweet potato in at the end of cooking the curry.

curry powder: In the photos I used a homemade curry paste that I found in my freezer from 2016, yikes! Since this recipe is all about using what we have on hand I figured it would be perfect. However, I wrote the recipe for using curry powder and adding fresh ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes to create a very similar taste to the homemade curry paste.

Curry paste recipe: However, if you want to try your hand at making a curry paste yourself, I highly recommend this Thai yellow curry paste recipe from Pinch of Yum. It’s pretty easy to make, super delicious, and lasts a long time in the fridge and even longer in the freezer (like 4 years lol).