Best Chickpea Coconut Curry Kadala Recipes

KADALA CURRY | KADALA KARI

Steps:

• First rinse and then soak the black chickpeas in 2 cups water for 8 to 9 hours or overnight. You can also use white chickpeas instead of black chickpeas.
• Take the black chickpeas in a 3 litre stovetop pressure cooker. Add fresh water and salt.
• Stir and pressure cook the chickpeas for 9 to 10 whistles or till they are tender and cooked through on medium heat.
• Meanwhile when the chickpeas are cooking, take the grated coconut in a grinder or blender jar. Add water and grind or blend to a smooth paste.
• Keep the ground coconut paste aside.
• In a small pan, dry roast the following spices till aromatic - fennel seeds, mace strands, cinnamon, cloves and grated nutmeg or nutmeg powder. Just a light roasting. Don't over do.
• In a small grinder or coffee grinder or a mortar pestle, grind or pound these five spices to a semi fine or fine powder. Keep aside.
• Heat coconut oil in a pan.
• Add mustard seeds and let them crackle.
• Add chopped shallots. Stir and saute for a minute.
• Then add ginger, chopped green chilies, curry leaves and saute till the shallots turn translucent or a light brown.
• Then add red chili powder, coriander powder, black pepper powder and the ground kerala garam masala. If you already have kerala garam masala, then just add 1 teaspoon of it. Note that 1 teaspoon of red chili powder, makes this curry spicy. So reduce to ½ teaspoon for a less spicy curry.
• Stir the ground spices very well and saute for a minute on low heat.
• Then add the ground coconut paste.
• Stir and mix very well.
• Saute for 4 to 5 minutes on a low heat.
• Then add the cooked black chickpeas or kadala. Stir very well.
• Then add 1 to 1.25 cups water or according to the consistency you prefer. Again stir and mix very well.
• Season with the required amount of salt and stir kadala curry again.
• Let the curry come to a boil on medium heat and the gravy reduces a bit. The flavors and chickpeas should also be well blended. When the curry is done and cooked well, you will see some oil specks on the top layer of the curry.
• Serve Kadala Curry hot with puttu or appams or steamed rice. While serving, you can garnish with some chopped coriander leaves if you like.

CHICKPEA & COCONUT CURRY (KADALA)

Steps:

• If using dried chickpeas, soak overnight in plenty of water, then drain.
• Place soaked chickpeas in a large pot with plenty of fresh water, bring to the boil for 15 minutes, then reduce heat and simmer for about an hour, or until chickpeas are tender.
• Alternatively you can pressure-cook the dried chickpeas according to the manufacturer's instructions.
• When the chickpeas are cooked, or if you are using canned chickpeas, put them aside.
• Next, heat a wok or skillet over medium-high heat, and dry-roast the desiccated coconut, reducing heat as necessary- it is important to stir continuously, as the coconut will readily catch and burn.
• As soon as the coconut starts to brown remove the skillet from the heat, and immediately place the coconut in a blender bowl- if left in the skillet it will become dark brown and bitter.
• Add ginger, turmeric, chilli, coriander powder and a little water to the blender bowl and grind to a fine paste.
• Heat the oil in a clean pan and saute mustard seeds until they start to pop and release their aroma.
• Add onion and curry leaves and saute and stir a further minute or two.
• Add coconut paste and cooked chickpeas, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding more water if necessary.
• Add 1 cup coconut milk and simmer for a further 10-15 minutes.
• Serve with rice and garnish with fresh cilantro.

CHICKPEA CURRY

Steps:

• To make the paste, heat a little of the 2 tbsp oil in a frying pan, add 1 diced onion and 1 tsp fresh or dried chilli, and cook until softened, about 8 mins.
• In a food processor, combine 9 garlic cloves, a thumb-sized piece of peeled ginger and the remaining oil, then add 1 tbsp ground coriander, 2 tbsp ground cumin, 1 tbsp garam masala, 2 tbsp tomato purée, ½ tsp salt and the fried onion. Blend to a smooth paste - add a drop of water or more oil, if needed.
• Cook the paste in a medium saucepan for 2 mins over a medium-high heat, stirring occasionally so it doesn't stick.
• Tip in two 400g cans drained chickpeas and a 400g can chopped tomatoes, and simmer for 5 mins until reduced down.
• Add 100g creamed coconut with a little water, cook for 5 mins more, then add ½ small pack chopped coriander and 100g spinach, and cook until wilted.
• Garnish with extra coriander and serve with rice or dhal (or both).