While chickpeas made in a curried way is most popular in the northern part of India, this one here is a South Indian style Chickpea Curry Recipe. A highly protein laden dish, this Coconut Chickpea Curry is a spicy and super delicious curry preparation made with healthy white chickpeas, bold spices and fragrant coconut. This is even vegan. Also, don’t get intimidated with the long list of ingredients. If you follow the recipe well, making this curry is not that difficult.
About Chickpea Curry
In my personal collection of recipes, I have quite a few varieties of the Chickpea Curry which I make regularly at home.
My all-time favorite is this robust and flavorsome one, the authentic Punjabi Chana Masala. This recipe has a good balance of spiciness and tanginess, which enhances the overall flavors too. It is just like the Chickpea Curry you get on the streets of Delhi and Punjab.
However, the Coconut Chickpea Curry recipe that I have here on this post is a South Indian version. So, the real taste comes from the coconut and whole spices that are used in this particular variation of the dish.
The distinct taste of coconut is quite dominant in this South Indian variant. Also, there is a subtle sweetness in this preparation, and it is not sour or tangy.
Basically, in this Chickpea Curry recipe, all commonly used ingredients of South Indian cooking are added. The grated coconut being one of the main ingredients which just makes the dish awesome.
You can also experiment and make the same recipe with black chickpeas, green peas or cauliflower or potato as well.
The masala paste of the Punjabi or North Indian style Chickpea Curry uses onions, tomatoes, spices, dried pomegranate seeds or dried mango powder. This also imparts the desired spiciness spicy and sourness in the curry.
Along with these ingredients, garam masala powder or chana masala powder is also primary in this typical way of preparing the dish.
But in this Coconut Chickpea Curry Recipe from South India, I add 2 mildly hot dried red chilies for a lesser spicy version at times.
On some other occasions, I add 4 dried red chilies to increase the fieriness. So, you can vary the quantity of red chilies as per your taste, spice preference and the quality of red chilies.
Dried Chickpeas or Canned Chickpeas
I always use dried chickpeas when making any recipe with it. Soaking dried chickpeas and then cooking them is an additional prep work that you need to do. But my recipe works great with canned chickpeas too.
The coconut and spices curry base is so flavorful, that once you add water, simply add the canned chickpeas (after draining the liquids and rinsing). Mix and stir to combine and simmer for some minutes.
To make Chickpea Coconut Curry with canned chickpeas, add 3 cups of the canned chickpeas. Remember to drain all the liquids from the canned chickpeas and thoroughly rinse the chickpeas a few times in water, before you add them to the curry base.
How to make Chickpea Curry
Pressure Cook Chickpeas
1. First, rinse 1 cup dried white chickpeas for a couple of times in water. Then, soak the chickpeas in 3 cups water overnight or for 8 to 9 hours. Below is a photo of the soaked chickpeas.
Tip: If you have forgotten to soak the chickpeas, soak them in hot water for 2 hours.
2. Drain the water. Rinse the chickpeas again a couple of times.
3. Again drain all of the water and add the soaked chickpeas in a 3 litre stovetop pressure cooker. Add ½ teaspoon salt.
If you do not have a stovetop pressure cooker, cook chickpeas in a pot or pan covering them with 3.5 to 4 cups of water. Or opt to cook them in the Instant Pot adding 3 cups of water.
5. Add 3 cups water.
6. Stir to mix. Cover tightly with the pressure cooker’s lid. Pressure cook the chickpeas for about 20 to 22 minutes or 18 to 20 whistles on medium to high heat. The chickpeas should be completely cooked and have a melt-in-mouth consistency.
Note: If cooking chickpeas in a pot, add about 3.5 to 4 cups water with salt to the chickpeas. Cover and cook the chickpeas till softened.
Make Chickpea Curry Base
7. While the chickpeas are cooking, prepare the curry base. Gather the spices listed below:
- ½ tablespoon fennel seeds
- ½ tablespoon cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 4 to 5 black peppercorns
- 2 green cardamoms
- 2 to 3 cloves
- 1 black cardamom
- 1 inch cinnamon
- 2 dried red chilies (mild to medium hot), seeds removed
- 1 small piece stone flower (dagad phool), optional
For a spicy taste, add about 3 to 4 dried red chilies. The amount of red chilies to be added depends on the heat quotient in the chilies.
So, if you use red chilies which have a high heat quotient, then just 1 or 2 dried red chilies would be fine.
8. You need to toast or roast the spices first. In a frying pan or skillet, dry roast all the spices stirring often on low heat till they become fragrant – taking care that you do not burn them.
9. Next, add ½ cup tightly packed grated fresh coconut and continue to roast.
Do not worry if you do not have fresh coconut. Instead add about ⅓ cup of unsweetened desiccated or shredded coconut.
10. Stir continuously while roasting the coconut, so that there is uniform browning.
11. Roast till the coconut becomes golden. Remove the pan from heat and allow this mixture to cool.
12. Once the coconut-spice mixture is cooled, add it to a high-speed blender or a mixer-grinder jar.
Also remember to remove the husk from the black cardamom and just add its seeds in the blender or grinder.
13. Add about ⅔ to ¾ cup water and grind to a fine and smooth paste. Ensure that the curry paste is not gritty or has fine chunks of the spices or coconut. Set aside.
Make Coconut Chickpea Curry
14. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a pan. Keeping heat to a low, add ½ teaspoon mustard seeds and allow them to crackle.
16. Then, add 1 tej patta (Indian bay leaf) and stir.
17. Add ⅓ cup finely chopped onions.
18. Stir and sauté till the onions turn translucent and soften on low to medium heat.
19. Add the below listed ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder (ground turmeric)
- 1 pinch of asafoetida (hing)
- 10 to 12 curry leaves
20. Stir and sauté on low heat for a few seconds or until the raw aroma of ginger-garlic goes away.
21. Add ½ cup chopped tomatoes.
22. Sauté on low to medium heat for about 2 to 3 minutes or till the tomatoes soften.
23. Add the prepared curry paste.
24. Stir very well to combine with the rest of the sautéed ingredients.
25. Then, add the drained and cooked chickpeas.
26. Stir well again and sauté for a minute.
27. Now, add 1 cup water and 1 or 2 slit green chilies.
28. Season with salt as required. Mix again.
29. First bring to a boil on medium heat and later simmer the curry on low to medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes; or till the curry thickens a bit and you see some oil floating on top.
Mash a few chickpeas with the back of the spoon to thicken the curry. Check the seasonings and add more salt as per your taste. Add more water, if needed depending on the consistency you prefer.
30. Lastly, switch off the heat and add 2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves (cilantro). Stir well.
31. Serve Chickpea Curry hot with Indian breads like poori, Naan, tandoori roti, bhatura, aloo paratha, bread, jeera rice or steamed rice accompanied with lemon wedges and onion slices.
Expert Tips for Chickpea Curry
- Chickpea Quality: Remember to always use fresh dried white chickpeas and the ones which are in their shelf period. If you use aged chickpeas, it will take more time to cook and the dish will not even taste good.
- Swapping with Canned Chickpeas: In case you have canned chickpeas at home over dried chickpeas, you can make the dish with it as well. You may use about 3 cups canned chickpeas in that case.
- Cooking Chickpeas in a pan: If you plan to cook the chickpeas in a pot, add about 3.5 to 4 cups water and salt to the chickpeas. Then, cover and cook till the chickpeas soften.
- Spiciness: Make the curry less or more spicy by adding less or more dried red chilies. The quantity will also depend on the spice and heat quotient of the chilies.
- Fats: You can use ghee in place of oil to cook this recipe. In this case, it will not be vegan. The recipe is also possible with black chickpeas instead of white chickpeas. You can also add make the same curry cauliflower, potatoes or green peas.
- Leftovers: The leftover curry can be refrigerated for 1 to 2 days. However, I recommend you consume it the same day to avoid any digestion-related issues. Before serving the refrigerated curry, gently reheat it in a pan. If the curry has become too thick, add some water to dilute the consistency a bit and then reheat.
FAQs
You may try. But I suggest you do as a curry base prepared with freshly toasted/roasted and ground spices imparts a different and unique flavor in the dish as compared to the one made with pre-ground spices.
This Coconut Chickpea Curry will stay good in the refrigerator for about 1 to 2 days.Just make sure to reheat it properly before serving.
Since canned chickpeas are pre-cooked, you just have to prepare the base curry. Once you make it, add the canned chickpeas in it and let the curry simmer for a some minutes or until it is slightly thickened or reached the desired consistency.
Yes, you can certainly prepare the curry in ghee. Note, then it won’t be anymore vegan.
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Chickpea Curry Recipe | Coconut Chickpea Curry
Ingredients
For soaking & pressure cooking chickpeas
- 1 cup dried white chickpeas (kabuli chana or safed chana) – 180 grams
- 3 cups water – for soaking
- 3 cups water – for pressure cooking
- ½ teaspoon salt
For toasting or roasting spices
- ½ cup fresh grated coconut – tightly-packed
- 1 inch cinnamon
- ½ tablespoon fennel seeds
- ½ tablespoon cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 2 dry red chilies or 3 to 4 chillies – would make the dish spicy. remove the seeds.
- 2 to 3 cloves
- 1 black cardamom
- 2 green cardamoms
- 4 to 5 black peppercorns
- 1 small piece stone flower (dagad phool, pathar phool), optional
Other ingredients to make curry
- 3 tablespoons oil
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 tej patta (Indian bay leaf), small-sized
- ⅓ cup onions – finely chopped, 50 grams or 1 medium-sized
- 1 teaspoon Ginger Garlic Paste or 2 to 3 small to medium, peeled garlic cloves and ½ inch peeled ginger crushed or made into a paste in mortar-pestle
- ¼ or ½ teaspoon turmeric powder (ground turmeric)
- 1 pinch asafoetida (hing), optional
- 10 to 12 curry leaves
- ½ cup tomatoes – finely chopped, 80 grams or 1 medium-sized
- 1 cup water or add as required
- 1 green chilli – slit
- 2 tablespoons coriander leaves (cilantro) – chopped, for garnish
- salt as required
Instructions
Cooking chickpeas
- First rinse the dried chickpeas for a couple of times in water. Then soak the chickpeas in 3 cups of water overnight or for 8 to 9 hours.
- Drain the water. Rinse the chickpeas again for a couple of times.
- Again drain all the water and add the soaked chickpeas in a 3 litre stovetop pressure cooker.
- Add ½ teaspoon salt and 3 cups water. Stir to mix.
- Pressure cook the chickpeas for 20 to 22 minutes or 18 to 20 whistles on medium to high heat.
- If cooking chickpeas in a pot, then add about 3.5 to 4 cups water and salt to the chickpeas. Cover and cook the chickpeas till they softened.
Making curry paste
- When the chickpeas are cooking, you can roast or toast the spices. Gather all the spices you will need and set them aside.
- In a pan or skillet, on a low heat dry roast the spices except coconut – listed under the "toasting or roasting the spices" heading above, till they become fragrant. Take care not to burn them, so roast them on low heat and stir often.Remember to roast all spices except coconut.
- Once the spices smell fragrant, add the fresh grated coconut to the spices and begin to roast or toast on low heat.Note you could use either fresh grated coconut or frozen shredded coconut and even ⅓ cup of unsweetened shredded or desiccated coconut.
- Stir continuously while roasting the coconut, so that there is uniform and even cooking.
- Roast till the coconut become golden. Remove the pan from the stovetop allow the this mixture to cool at room temperature.
- Once the coconut-spice mixture is cooled, add them to a high-speed blender or mixer-grinder. Make a note to remove the husks from the black cardamom and just add its seeds in the blender or grinder.
- Add ⅔ to ¾ cup water and grind to a smooth and fine consistency making sure the curry paste does not have any small chunks or bits of the spices and coconut.
Making chickpea curry
- Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a pan. Keep heat to a low or medium-low.
- Add the mustard seeds and allow them to crackle. Then add tejpatta and stir.
- Next add the finely chopped onions. Stir and sauté on low to medium heat till the onions turn translucent and soften.
- Add ginger-garlic paste, turmeric power, asafoetida and curry leaves.
- Stir and sauté for a few seconds on low heat till the raw aroma of ginger-garlic goes away.
- Add the chopped tomatoes. Sauté on a low to medium heat, for about 2 to 3 minutes till the tomatoes soften.
- Add the ground coconut and spices curry paste. Stir very well to combine.
- Then add the drained and cooked chickpeas. Stir again well and saute for a minute.
- Now add 1 cup of water and 1 or 2 slit green chilies.
- Season with salt as required.
- Give a boil first and then simmer the curry for 10 to 15 minutes on a low to medium heat or till the gravy thickens a bit and you see some oil floating on top.
- Mash a few chickpeas with the sides of the spoon to thicken the gravy. Check the seasonings and add more salt if you prefer.
- Switch off the heat. Lastly add chopped coriander leaves. Stir well.
- Serve Chickpea Curry hot with chapati, poori, bread or steamed rice accompanied with lemon wedges and thin onion slices or a side of vegetable salad.
Notes
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
- Dried Chickpeas: Use 3 cups of canned chickpeas.
- Stone flower: Can be skipped.
- Asafoetida: Optional ingredient and can be left out.
- Fresh Coconut: Swap with ⅓ cup of unsweetened shredded coconut or can make the curry paste with frozen shredded coconut.
- Curry leaves: Gives a lot of flavor to the curry, so do not omit it from the recipe. You could also add dried curry leaves instead.
- Black mustard seeds: Swap with small yellow mustard seeds.
- Dry red chillies: Add chillies which are less spicy or medium-spicy. You could also use the Indian variety of Kashmiri red chillies. If out of red chillies, add ½ teaspoon red chilli powder or cayenne pepper or paprika when you add turmeric powder to the softened onions.
Recipe Notes
- If you have forgotten to soak chickpeas, soak them in hot water for 2 hours.
- For a less spicy curry, add only 1 red chilli or half of one chilli.
- Since coconut is one of the important ingredient in the recipe, make sure it is fresh and not rancid. The coconut should have a mild sweet taste.
- You can cook chickpeas in an Instant Pot or in a pan on the stovetop adding water as needed.
- If using canned chickpeas, add them when you add water to the curry paste. Simmer for some minutes until the curry thickens a bit and the chickpeas absorb the flavor of the curry.
- Leftovers can be refrigerated for 1 to 2 days.
- For a gluten-free curry, do not add asafoetida (hing).
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This Chickpea Curry recipe from the blog archives, first published in July 2013 has been republished and updated on December 2022.
Chana, I love, my favorite. You can cook Chana in anyway you want and you won’t hurt my feeling. Thank you. Lok Patel
welcome lokanath
Looks yummy..Wanna try it..Can I use frozen coconut instead of fresh?will it taste good too?
yes you can use frozen coconut. but fresh coconut always taste better.
I used unsweetened coconut flakes from baking aisle and it tastes just as great.
thanks for sharing your feedback.
Nice. Simple but taste yummy. Thanks for recipes
welcome jennifer
Thank u ! That Was a perfect recipie . Keep posting
welcome vani
It’s tasty
thanks shabana
Greetings. I just made this recipe, tasted a bit when done and it seemed great. Question: I see turmeric in the ingredients list but not in the directions. When should it be added? I threw it in together with the asafoetida, since it is also a powdered dry spice, but cannot be sure if that was right.
As an aside, I will need to get a proper spice grinder; my combination of mortar and pestle followed by blender did not really produce the desired results for texture! But I think the flavors came through nicely nonetheless.
thanks for the feedback nels and also for letting us know about the turmeric bit. i have updated in the post. you can add turmeric along with the asafoetida. its right. one needs a good grinder or a blender to make a smooth masala paste. for making indian food on a regular basis, which require a thorough grinding of coconut or spices, an indian brand of mixer-grinder is a good investment.
Thank you for this delicious recipe. I cooked this for my friends and everybody loved it!
welcome hanneke
I cooked this for my friends and they loved it! Thanks!
welcome hanneke
it”s zoo good.i put this recipe to my hubby.he loved me & recipe too
thanks harini for sharing positive feedback.
I just discovered this blog and LOVE it!
I was hoping to make this recipe for dinner, but I don’t have time to soak the chickpeas. Would I be able to cheat and either use canned chickpeas or cook the chick peas in boiling water for a couple minutes and then let them sit in the hot water for an hour? Love the recipes!
thanks. you can use canned chickpeas. also you can boil water and allow to soak the chickpeas for at least 2 hours.
Its yummy
thanks chaithra
hi dassana, awesome recipe.the gravy was very much tasty and sufficient for 5 of us, i was able to serve more unlike the onion based channa masala.i have to use more onions for that.but this recipe requires very little amount of onion.the coconut gives the more volume i think.thanks for the recipe.my family just loved it.
welcome harini. thanks for sharing positive feedback.
Dassna, this recipe was just amazing! Thank you. I was looking for alternatives for the regular north indian/punjabi garam masala and this was awesome!
welcome aarthi
Hi Dassana thank u for a lip smacking yummmmmm recipe. made it twice already.absolutely loved it .Would give it a 100 stars if i cud(it was tat gud ) .wanna try the palak paneer recipe next.
thanks sania for this awesome feedback.