20 Minute Chickpea Curry
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The best and easiest Chickpea Curry, made in 20 minutes. This will become one of your go-to dinners when you barely have time to cook! Gluten free.
This Chickpea Curry is quickly becoming one of my favorite meals. It’s super fast and easy to make and incredibly delicious! Chickpeas make a wonderful base for curry because they are ready immediately, and they are packed with plant fiber and protein.
The flavor in this dish is quite mild, depending on what brand of curry paste you use, and totally customizable. Add cayenne pepper or hot sauce to make it spicier, serve with white or brown rice, or even quinoa, add some vegetables to the curry, or use full fat or light coconut milk. The possibilities are endless depending on your preferences and what you have on hand!
TIP: If you have kids and you want them to enjoy curry night, serve with Easy Vegan Naan! They can dip the naan in the curry and it just makes the meal a lot more fun for them. Over time they will come to like the flavors of curry dishes, hopefully.
How do you make Chickpea Curry?
First, get your rice cooking while you work on the rest of the dish. If you are using white rice, it should only take 15-20 minutes to cook, and will be ready by the time your curry is.
Once your rice is cooking, saute the onion and garlic in a large pan with a few tablespoons of water or olive oil for about 5 minutes.
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What kind of curry paste should I use?
Quality curry paste adds so much flavor without much effort, which is why I use it here. I used Pataks Mild Curry Paste, which was so easy to order from Amazon. I absolutely love it! It’s mild, so not too spicy for my kids, and has a wonderful flavor. Whatever brand you use, make sure you like the flavor as it will make or break this dish.
Stir the curry paste into the onions/garlic, then pour in the coconut milk and chickpeas. Bring to a boil, them simmer for 10 minutes.
Stir in the lime juice from 1/2 a lime, a teaspoon of sugar, salt to taste, cherry tomatoes and chopped fresh basil. Serve with fluffed rice, another vegetable if desired and naan.
What to serve with Chickpea Curry:
It’s best served over rice (white or brown), with lime wedges, and perhaps some steamed kale, broccoli, cauliflower or fresh spinach stirred in. And of course, naan on the side is delicious and fun.
Can you freeze Chickpea Curry?
Yes, it freezes extremely well. You can freeze it in individual containers with rice, or in a large container without rice, whatever you prefer.
Want more Indian inspired vegan dishes?
20 Minute Chickpea Curry
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons water, for sautéing, or olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced small
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons mild curry paste
- 1 can (14 oz) coconut milk, full fat or light
- 1 can (15 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- juice from 1/2 lime
- salt, to taste
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 3/4 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
- 1 cup chopped fresh basil
For Serving:
- 1 cup uncooked basmati rice
- lime wedges
- Optional: steamed kale, broccoli or cauliflower
Instructions
- Get the rice cooking: Add 1 cup of rice and 2 cups of water to a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat to a simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes. While the rice is cooking, make the chickpea curry.
- Make the Chickpea Curry: In a large pan, saute the onion and garlic in a few tablespoons of water (or olive oil) for about 5 minutes. Stir in the curry paste, then pour in the coconut milk and chickpeas. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the lime juice, salt to taste, sugar, cherry tomatoes and chopped basil.
- Serve: Fluff the rice with a fork. Serve chickpea curry with rice and another vegetable, if desired, such as steamed kale, broccoli or cauliflower and lime wedges. Would also be wonderful with Easy Vegan Naan on the side.
Notes
- You may use full fat or light coconut milk here. Full fat coconut milk will obviously make the dish creamier and richer, but both are good options.
- The kind of curry paste you use will make all the difference here, so make sure to use a good quality brand. I love Patak's Mild Curry Paste and it was so easy to order from Amazon.
- Calories listed are for using full fat coconut milk, no olive oil, and do not include rice or additional vegetables you might add.
- If you want to make this but don't have curry paste on hand, you could substitute 2 teaspoons garam masala and 1-2 teaspoons curry powder. But it's much better using the paste!
- It will last for 4-5 days in the refrigerator, and freezes very well.
Nutrition
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6 Comments on “20 Minute Chickpea Curry”
This is so YUMMY!!! I made it as written (and ordered the curry paste you recommended) and served it over jasmine rice with steamed spinach. It was so easy and really tasty.
I have one question – can you teach us how to make curry paste like Patak’s without oil? I’m on the WFPB no oil diet, and I’d love to be able to make this completely oil free.
Thank you for a great recipe!
Hi Susan! I’m so glad you enjoyed the chickpea curry, it’s one of my favorites! I will have to look into making your own curry paste, I don’t have a recipe now but that’s a great idea. In the meantime, you could probably use curry powder instead, but it won’t be as tasty. Thank you!
Wow – this was really tasty and easy (my favorite type of recipe)! This will surely become part of our regular dinner rotation. I didn’t have basil so I used fresh cilantro instead. I also added spinach and it worked great. My husband – who is not vegan or vegetarian – enjoyed this but felt like it was missing some texture so I may add cashews or vegan “chicken” next time.
I have enjoyed every recipe I’ve made from your site. Keep the recipes coming!
I made this dish for me and my husbands work week lunches and we have been LOVING it! I decided to sub out the tomatoes and go for broccoli as the replacement and it is delicious! Thank you for this yummy recipe, we will definitely be using this as a go-to for our work lunches!
This was amazing! You did it again! It seems so simple that it can’t be that phenomenal but it is! I doubled it, added some mushrooms and green beans but otherwise kept it the same. Def going in the rotation!
I made this today using recipe as base. I did substitute soy milk for coconut milk. I did substitute organic Roma tomatoes that I blanched and removed skins. I added thinly sliced organic celery hearts and tops of spring onion and finely chopped ginger. I did not add sugar. Although I made substitutions I want to say that this recipe is fine without the substitutions but even better using for a base recipe to add to. Thanks for such a great recipe.