Cashew Chickpea Curry
There is something about this flavor combination that just makes me so happy, comforted, and full. As someone who orders anything curry flavored on the menu while eating out at restaurants, I obviously had to create some curry focused recipes of my own. Sure, I already have the vegetable chickpea curry, Thai chicken curry coconut soup, and coconut curry butternut squash on my website, but one can never have too many recipes! Plus, I love playing around with different ingredients. Whether it is different vegetables to add a new flavor combination or different broths or liquids to change the texture, there are always ways to transform and differentiate one’s recipe. **Curries have been a staple of eastern cuisine for centuries and, according to this post on Sukhi’s Indian Cuisine, while no one really knows when curry was invented, “the use of spices in a sauce to flavor meats has been tracked back to 2500BCE from Mohenjo-Daro.” From there, it is assumed that curries were spread across Asia and Europe via Indian monks traveling via the Silk Route. Now, we see curry flavors in dishes all across the world. For more on what curry powder is composed of, I recommend checking out the piece on Sukhi’s Indian Cuisine I highlighted above.
For work I am doing on my Instagram with Elmhurst Milk, I began testing out some new recipes with their variety of handy dandy unsweetened nut milks, filled with just two ingredients: filtered water and nuts. For my December content, I knew I wanted something warm and comforting and a meal that people could enjoy on their couch cuddled up in blankets or prepped for a delicious lunch at work to keep them sane. Using the cashew milk, this curry dish has a delicious undertone nutty flavor and a thick and creamy base.
To make, finely chop the bell pepper, ginger, onion, and garlic into small pieces. Add them to a pot, that is already hot, with avocado oil and season with cayenne pepper, curry powder, turmeric powder, and salt and pepper. Sauté for 7-10 minutes, or until the vegetables are browned and slightly cooked through and fragrant. Next, add in four cups of the nut milk of your choice, I used Elmhurst Unsweetened Cashew milk, along with one can of crushed tomatoes. Allow this mixture to simmer on low heat, covered, for 30 minutes. Drain the can of chickpeas and thinly chop the kale into small ribbons. Add the chickpeas to the mixture and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Using an emersion blender, I love this one, blend the mixture slightly so that the consistency thickens a bit. This isn’t entirely necessary, but is a trick I love in order to thicken the base of a soup by blending some of the key ingredients. If you do not have an immersion blender but have a regular countertop blender, you can also remove 2 cups of the soup, blend it in the blender, and then add back to the soup mixture. It does the same trick just with additional steps / mess. Next, add in the kale and mix until the leaves have wilted.
Serve hot with the optional crushed crackers as a topping and enjoy! If you are making this for meal prep, allow the soup to cool before individually packaging it in tupperware or mason jars and placing in the fridge (to consume over the next 3 days) or the freezer (to consume over the next 2 months). This is something I always love to have on hand for those nights where I just don’t feel like cooking or the weekends where grocery shopping isn’t an option.
ingredients:
- Yellow onion (1/2)
- Bell pepper (1/2)
- Garlic (1 clove)
- Ginger (1 knob)
- Kale (1/2 head)
- Cashew milk (4 cups)
- Crushed tomatoes (1 12oz can)
- Chickpeas (1 12oz can)
- Crackers (1 cup) - optional
- Avocado oil (1 teaspoon)
- Cayenne pepper (1/2 teaspoon)
- Turmeric powder (1/2 teaspoon)
- Curry powder (1 teaspoon)
- Salt
- Pepper
instructions:
How to cook
- Dice the onion, garlic, ginger, and bell peppers into very small pieces
- In a pot, add 1 teaspoon of avocado oil
- Once the pot is hot, add in the diced vegetables and season with cayenne pepper, turmeric powder, curry powder, and salt & pepper
- Sauté for 7-10 minutes or until fragrant
- Add in the cashew milk and the can of crushed tomatoes
- Cover the pot and simmer on low for 30 minutes
- While the curry is cooking, destem and chop the kale into thin ribbons
- Add the chickpeas into the pot and cook on low for an additional 10 minutes
- Using an immersion blender, blend a bit of the curry to thicken the base
- Add in the kale and mix until the leaves have wilted
- Serve and enjoy!
- Gluten Free
- Dairy Free
- Soy Free
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
** after a lot of self-reflection and doing the work of Layla F Saad’s Me and White Supremacy (a book I highly recommend everyone reads) and Rachel Rickett’s Social Activism 101 & 102 courses, I realized the cultural appropriation that was occurring on my website when it came to recipes. I was modifying recipes deeply embedded in oppressed cultures without paying any respect to the history or original ingredients used. After realizing this, I went through and made changes to many of my recipes. This section is part of what was edited and included.