Coconut Cashew Chickpea Curry

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Keyword chickpeas,, Coconut, Coconut Curry, Spinach, Vegetarian

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 20

Soak Chickpeas 8

Servings

Calories 552kcal

Clean and pick over the chickpeas. Cover with 1 cup of water and set in the frig over night.
In the morning, add the chickpeas and soaking water (add more if necessary) into a pressure cooker; heat over medium heat for 12 whistles. Set aside and allow to cool naturally.

Add the cumin seeds, coriander seeds, star anise, cloves and peppercorns to a heavy dry fry pan (cast iron would be perfect) and dry roast over medium heat. Keep stirring for several minutes until the seeds begin to pop and sizzle and give off a nice fragrance. Remove from heat and put into a spice grinder (coffee bean grinder).
To the dry roasted spices in the spice grinder, add the cinnamon stick, nutmeg powder, a few silvers of mace, the turmeric and green cardamon pod. Blend to a fine powder. Set aside.

Add the ghee to a kadai pan and heat. Then add the chopped onions and cook over medium heat until they begin to soften. Then add the chopped green chili, fresh ginger and garlic. Continue to fry over medium heat, stirring to avoid burning, but try to brown the onions a bit.
Add the cashew nuts, Himalayan pink salt and kashmiri red chili powder and cook and stir a few minutes to mix well.
Then add the coconut cream to the spicey nut mixture; add a little bit of water if necessary. Remove from heat.
Add the curry gravy to a food blend and blend to a smooth gravy.
Return the smooth gravy back to the kadai pan and then add the chickpeas and chopped spinach. Add some more water if necessary to get a smooth gravy. Continue to cook and stir until the spinach is cooked (a few minutes) and the chickpeas are heated.
Remove from heat and mix in the fresh coriander and lemon juice.

I would recommend trying chopped tomatoes cooked with the onions next time. The gravy is very rich! Tomatoes might soften the sweetness.