Random Recipe Search: Creamy Chickpea Curry

Random Recipe Searches happen when I'm stuck on some work or recipe surfing while The Lad naps. I'll post the search phrase and any interesting recipes that I uncover. Plugging "creamy chickpea curry" into Google, I hoped to find something similar to the basil chicken in coconut curry sauce. Instead I found a chickpea curry made with red thai curry, which is intriguing. I love that it calls for lime juice and will probably try to make it some time next week.

The Wonderful Fruit I: Black and Chick

So, I am compiling a list of recipes using beans and rice (although rice is not always a requirement) in the hopes of saving some money and not relying as much on meat and soy for our protein. Also, now that we have a rather large dutch oven, I want to make large batches of food to freeze. So far, we have my basic black beans and rice, which is pretty much a regular feature on our weekly menus. The last time I made it I was really impressed with the way that it came out. Spinning off from that is three bean (black, kidney, and pinto) chili and black bean soup. There is also the three bean salad from the South Beach summer cookbook that is one of Andy's favorites. Other recent bean accomplishments include curried chickpeas and mashed white beans. The latter is more of a side dish, but still worth noting.

Anyway, what follows is the beginning of a series of lists organized according to bean type:

Black Beans

Vegan Black Bean Soup
Vegetarian Black Bean Soup
Black bean and corn salad

Chickpeas

Middle eastern rice with chickpeas and black beans
Chickpea-quinoa pilaf (Veganomicon)
Chick pea noodle soup (Veganomicon)
Chickpea cultets (Veganomicon)

Woo-Hoo!!! Three Successful Dinners

I am rather proud of myself. I made three successful dinners this week, two of which were from new recipes.

Friday

I made chickpea curry with brown rice and a side of spinach. I wound up stirring the spinach into the curry and it was quite good. Now I just need to figure out how to get the curry smell out of my wooden spoon.

Saturday

I made tofu panang curry. It's an old favorite. However, I am quite certain that the way I make it breaks all kinds of rules. Basically, I fry the tofu in a little bit of oil until golden brown, then I stir fry green and red peppers and white onion for a bit. I make the sauce separately; whisking together one can of coconut milk, two tablespoons of curry paste, two tablespoons of fish sauce, and two tablespoons of brown sugar in a separate bowl. Then I pour the sauce into the pan and simmer for a while. Toward the end I add fresh thai basil (although we didn't have any this time). I first started making this dish in a very tiny kitchen and mixing the sauce separately seemed neater and I've never considered doing it any other way although I might eventually.

Sunday

I made grilled smoky tempeh, a recipe from Veganomicon with spicy sweet potatoes on the side. Liquid smoke. It's my new best friend.


Also, I am very excited. Today we purchased a 7 qt. dutch oven by Outset. I am very excited to use it, especially for the no-knead bread recipe that Mavis sent to me.

Middle Eastern Inspired Chickpea Salad

This is a recipe I made up on my own. It was inspired by middle eastern fattoush:

1 can of chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
1 red bell pepper diced
1/2 red onion finely chopped
1 med-large cucumber peeled, seeds removed, and diced
1 bunch parsley chopped*

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tbs ground sumac
2-3 garlic cloves minced

Wisk together lemon juice, olive oil, sumac, and garlic. Mix in chickpeas, pepper, onion, cucumber, and parsley.


*Confession: I actually did not serve this with parsley but would in the future.


It was pretty good. I am hoping that after the flavors meld, it will be even better tomorrow. I served it with seared tempeh. I have decided that tempeh is better served marinated in thick sauces and when seared only using an oil based marinade, it doesn't taste as well. Otherwise, I would recommend serving this salad with garlicky chicken kabobs.

It took us two days and six different stores before we finally found some ground sumac. Of course, we found it at the local middle eastern food store, which is exactly where I should have gone in the first place. I was truly surprised that the Clintonville Community Market didn't have any because their bulk spice collection is immense. They have turtle shell. How they can have turtle shell and not ground sumac, I will never understand.