We have a wet,cold day in Johannesburg and what better day for a comforting pot of curry. When I woke up this morning I had a totally different dinner idea in my head and after I saw the rain that quickly changed. We love chickpeas so this Chickpea Butternut Curry with Coconut Milk is a real treat in our home. Nothing better than a steaming bowl of curry and rice for the cooler weather.
I have tried cooking this curry a few times but it never turned out quite right. Today I am happy with the results, the flavors are perfect and the coconut milk adds a lovely richness to the curry. If you want even more richness you welcome to replace the coconut milk with coconut cream or fresh cream. You don’t need too many spices for this curry and it is fairly simple to cook.
The roasted butternut with the charred bits is a lovely addition to the curry. It does take a little more time to roast the butternut but it is worth the effort. We like a little bit of heat in our curries but you can reduce the amount of masala or omit the paprika from the recipe. Fresh is always best but for this dish I used canned chickpeas.
Canned chickpeas is really convenient when you’re cooking in a hurry and although I do have fresh chickpeas I couldn’t use it because I didn’t plan this dish is advance. If you have the time then feel free to use fresh chickpeas.
Although I chopped my onion quite fine I still blended the sauce once cooked because my fussy kids don’t like onion. If they don’t see it then it doesn’t bother them. But if you’re ok with little bits of onion you can skip this step.
We certainly love this Chickpea Butternut Curry with Coconut Milk. I hope you will love it just as much. If you do try it please drop me a comment.
More Vegetarian dishes to try:
Spinach and Potato Curry (Palak Aloo)
Cauliflower and Potato (Aloo Gobi)
Chickpea Butternut Curry with Coconut Milk
Ingredients
Roasted Butternut
- 300 gram butternut cut into cubes
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- salt
- pepper
- 1&1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
Curry
- 1 x 400 gram canned chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tsp ginger/garlic paste
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp masala or kashmiri chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp mixed spice
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 cup pureed tomatoes or passata
- 1 cup vegetable stock
- 1 x 400 ml coconut milk
- 1 tsp sugar (optional)
Instructions
Roasted Butternut
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Cut the butternut into small cubes and mix in the cinnamon and oil, add the thyme and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 25 minutes or until soft and tender.
- Once cooked remove from the oven and set aside
Sauce
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil. Add the onion and saute until golden brown
- Add the ginger/garlic paste and cook for a minute
- Add the masala or chilli powder, turmeric, cumin, paprika, garam masala, mix spice and cook for a minute
- Add the pureed tomatoes or passata and cook for 5 minutes. Add the vegetable stock and coconut milk. Simmer on low heat until the sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Once cooked you can use a stick blender and blend the sauce if you wish. Add the sugar if required
- Add the chickpeas and cooked butternut. Season with more salt only if required. Simmer for 5 minutes
- Garnish with coriander and serve with Basmati Rice or naan bread
Notes
- You can replace the coconut milk with coconut cream or fresh cream, you may need less
- If you are using fresh chickpeas you will need to soak it overnight and cook it before adding it to the sauce
- If you prefer a milder curry you can omit the paprika and reduce the masala/chilli powder
- Mixed spice is found in the dry spice section of the supermarket aisle, it consists of cassia,coriander,pimento,cloves, ginger and nutmeg
- If you do not have mixed spice you can omit it from the recipe
- I pureed fresh tomatoes and it's what I used in the sauce, you can use canned tomatoes or Italian tomato sauce, passata
Really love this recipe! It was easy to make – your recipes are so easy to follow. My family loves meat, yet everyone was so impressed that a meatless dish can be so tasty and filling. My mum asked for the recipe so that she can add it to her file of favourite recipes. Thank you, Lorraine!
Thank you so much Anna. I’m so glad you and your family enjoyed the recipe. It is one of my favourite vegetarian dishes too. Thanks for taking the time to let me know. Take Care:-)
Such an easy recipe to follow and the whole family loved it . Thank you Lorraine
Thank you so much Donna 🙂