Chickpeas, mushrooms, tomatoes, and spinach simmered in a curry coconut broth with fire-roasted green chilies served over fluffy turmeric, paprika, and cinnamon-spiced brown basmati rice to make a delightful vegetarian curried chickpeas meal.
Satisfaction Guarantee
Whether you are a vegetarian or have a weekly meatless Monday, this dish is here to satisfy you. It is so comforting to have the perfect yellow rice being soaked up in a super quick and easy creamy curried coconut sauce.
What makes a great sauce is the added vegetables, spices, and herbs, and nothing was skipped to make this excellent dinner choice. We try to have at least two vegetarian meals a week, and because I love variety, it has to compete with my chicken, turkey, and lamb dishes. To sum up, this was a winner!
Forget take out! Want Mexican? Try the Cheesy Chipotle Mushroom Vegetarian Birria Style Tacos. How about Italian? Check out the Plant-Based: Italian Sausage with Spicy Creamy Lentil Pasta. Let's do Asian! You must try Bang Bang Crispy Tofu with Egg Fried Brown Rice. This dish has a combination of Thai, Chinese, and Japanese! Or Herb Panko Tofu with Curried Potatoes, Carrots, and Onions for that Katsu Japanese-inspired meal.
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Indian and Jamaican Curry
The inspiration for this dish is our night out eating Indian chickpea curry, Chana Masala, Chana for chickpeas, and masala for the curry spice blend. Of course, this dish is in no way the same as that, but it is where I get my influence when creating it.
And because the Caribbean's West Indies use curry, too, why don't we mash it up with some Jamaican curry powder?
Looking for other curry recipes? Try the Herb Panko Tofu with Curried Potatoes, Carrots, and Onion, a delicious vegetarian meal—or this dish with a twist: Chicken Curry Stir-Fry with Coconut Rice and Beans. Have curry for breakfast with Chickpeas and Egg Masala!
Ingredients and Instructions
In the rice cooker, you will rinse the rice about three times, then add your basmati brown rice, water, turmeric powder, salt, cumin, black pepper, paprika powder, red pepper chili flakes, ground cinnamon, and coriander powder.
Make the Curry
Firstly, heat a large saute pan with olive oil. Then add your onions, mushrooms, garlic, and tomatoes. Finally, add your green chilies, curry powder, Italian herb blend, salt, ground black pepper, chickpeas, and red bell peppers, then simmer.
You want the sauce to reduce to make the sauce robust while cooking the chickpeas; then you'll add the coconut milk. This way, you don't have to add too much in the beginning to reduce, making this dish a light coconut sauce.
To finish, you'll add the spinach since you just want to wilt it to prevent loss of nutrients, then taste and season if necessary. Finally, top your fluffy yellow basmati brown rice with the curried chickpeas and vegetables, and you're all done!
See the curried chickpeas recipe card for quantities.
Busy Folks - Become a better home cook with cooking tips to help you cook more efficiently on Cook's Notebook tab. Learn more about cooking rice, like the Easy Spiced Brown Brice with Quinoa.
Serving Suggestion
Don't be afraid to serve it with a side of salad; I love serving it with mixed greens, quartered fresh Campari tomatoes, and thinly sliced red onions with a jalapeno-lime type of vinaigrette.
Substitutions
- Brown Basmati Rice - You can use medium-grain brown rice or jasmine brown rice. For example, medium-grain brown rice refers to regular white medium-grain rice with the brain layer covering the white grain. In addition, Jasmine brown rice has a slight floral aroma. It is also usually used in South East Asian and Caribbean cuisines.
- Cinnamon Powder - You can use one cinnamon stick.
- Tomatoes - I used Campari Tomatoes, slightly bigger than grade, and cherry tomatoes but not as big as a plum tomato. However, you can use plum tomatoes; just cut them into six instead of quartered. In addition, if you use grape or cherry tomatoes, cut them in half. However, I do not suggest using globe tomatoes; the regular large round tomatoes contain too much water and acidity.
Change Heat Level - Modify the recipe's heat level to your liking and learn more about the Scoville Scale and Chili Pairings.
Variations
- Meat and Seafood - Add seared, air-fried, or oven-roasted sliced meat or fish. Or add raw fish bites or shrimp in the last minutes of simmering the coconut curry. For example, shrimp takes about three minutes; add it during the last three minutes.
- Greens - Make it a leafy curry and add chopped baby kale.
Equipment
- Rice Cooker and Rice Paddle- Used to make the spiced rice. To develop this recipe, I used the Aroma Housewares Digital Rice Cooker. It's a simple rice cooker I've also had for years.
- Another popular, highly-rated rice cooker I've seen people talk about is the Zojirushi Rice Cooker. It's expensive, but I would love to try it one day.
- Don't have a rice cooker? If you wish for a similar stove-top rice recipe, check out Cook's Notebook: Cooking Rice: Spiced Brown Rice and Quinoa: Stove Top Instructions recipe.
- Medium Saute Pan - Used to make the chickpea and mushroom curry.
Kitchen Must Haves - Find other tools I use here.
Storage
- Refrigerator - Place the rice and chickpea curry in separate 2-inch shallow pans to cool down quickly to store in the fridge. Then, store in an air-tight sealing container. The rice and curried chickpeas will last for up to four days.
- Freezer - Follow the refrigeration process mentioned above. Then, you can place it in the freezer in a labeled, airtight container.
Air Tight Food Containers - I use Glass Food Storage Containers with a plastic clipping lid to store food. For example, I always suggest glass storage containers since you can microwave them and hold food without staining the container, and the glass keeps them at a more stable temperature, which keeps the food fresher longer.
Cooking Tips
- Cook Rice First! - Whatever meal you make, I always suggest starting the rice before prepping ingredients for the protein or the sides that will be eaten with the rice.
- Fluffing Rice Method - Fluffing the rice with a fork or a paddle evaporates the extra moisture, leaving you a bowl of lighter, fluffier rice. For example, the method involves scooping and mixing the cooked rice within the container to allow steam to escape.
- Measuring Canned Green Chilies - Usually come in 4-ounce cans equal to half of a cup.
- Measuring Spinach - You can do this leniently. A cup is about the size of your fist.
- Wilting spinach - This cooking method means it is not cooked for long but just enough to keep its bright green color and nutrients. In addition, this usually takes about 30 seconds.
- Quick Prep - Using Italian herb seasoning is a quick way to get various herbs into your sauce without buying them all individually. In addition, the Italian herb mixture also complements this dish.
Frequently Asked Questions
There is no difference; "garbanzo" is just the Latin name for this bean.
Chickpeas do numerous things, from helping you control your blood sugar and pressure, cholesterol, and even triglycerides to managing your weight maintenance. In addition, they have also been shown to help with gut health. See Health.com to learn more.
Yes, they are known to be packed with protein, giving you a healthy alternative to meat. As a result, it helps you with controlling your cholesterol.
In a serving of chickpeas, which is ⅓ of a cup, there are about 13 grams of protein.
Jamaican curry powder has cardamon, brown mustard, fenugreek, fennel, caraway, coriander, cumin, turmeric, ginger, chili flakes, onion, allspice, garlic, black peppercorn, cayenne, and anise.
While garam masala has cardamon, cinnamon, cumin, cloves, black peppercorn, nutmeg, mace, coriander, and bay leaf, but let's backtrack a little; there is an Indian yellow curry called "curry powder," but it has lesser ingredients and will be much hotter.
So if I had to place these three spices from hot to mild: Indian curry powder, Jamaican curry powder, then garam masala. For example, garam masala is more concentrated on being fragrant. How did curry get from India to Jamaica? Check out my little story on this topic in my Curry Lentil Turkey Stew recipe post.
Vegetarian Recipes
Looking for other vegetarian recipes like this? Try these:
- Homemade Easy Spicy Basil Pesto
- French Omelet with Whipped Garlic Herbed Cottage Cheese
- Healthy Whipped Garlic Herbed Cottage Cheese Spread
- Easy Peanut Chocolate Caramel Candy Bar No-Churn Ice Cream
Healthy Recipes
Looking for other healthy recipes like this? Try these:
- Spicy Pesto Chicken Pasta Homemade One-Pot-Meal
- Healthy Poached Egg Avocado Rainbow Tuna Salad
- Spicy Chicken Vegetable Stew with Harissa Tomato Sauce
- Spicy Chicken Pitas with Arugula Feta Pomegranate Salad
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Recipe
Curried Chickpeas and Mushrooms with Spiced Brown Basmati Rice
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
Easy Measuring
- When measuring 1 cup of rice, I usually like to use the cup that comes with my storage rice container.
Cook Rice First!
- Whatever meal you make, I always suggest starting the rice before prepping ingredients for the protein or the sides that will be eaten with the rice.
Alternative to Brown Basmati Rice
- You can use medium-grain brown rice or jasmine brown rice.
- Medium-grain brown rice refers to regular white medium-grain rice with the brain layer covering the white grain.
- Jasmine brown rice has a slight floral aroma.
- It is usually used in South East Asian and Caribbean cuisines.
Alternative to Cinnamon Powder
- You can use 1 cinnamon stick
Fluffing Rice Method
- Fluffing the rice with a fork or a paddle allows the extra moisture to evaporate, leaving you a bowl of lighter, fluffier rice.
- The method involves scooping and mixing the cooked rice within the container to allow steam to escape.
Tomatoes Variations
- I used Campari Tomatoes, slightly bigger than grade, and cherry tomatoes but not as big as a plum tomato.
- However, you can use plum tomatoes, just cut them into six instead of quartered.
- If you use grape or cherry tomatoes, cut them in half only.
- I do not suggest using globe tomatoes; the regular large round tomatoes contain too much water and acidity.
Soy Chorizo Alternative
- Alternative to soy chorizo crumbles, you can use regular chorizo, small diced.
Tomatoes Variations
- I used Campari Tomatoes, slightly bigger than grade, and cherry tomatoes but not as big as a plum tomato.
- However, you can use plum tomatoes, just cut them into six instead of quartered.
- If you use grape or cherry tomatoes, cut them in half only.
- I do not suggest using globe tomatoes; the regular large round tomatoes contain too much water and acidity.
Tomatoes Variations
- I used Campari Tomatoes, slightly bigger than grape and cherry tomatoes but not as big as a plum tomato.
- However, you can use plum tomatoes, just cut them into six instead of quartered.
- If you use grape or cherry tomatoes, cut them in half only.
- I do not suggest using globe tomatoes; the regular large round tomatoes contain too much water and acidity.
Measuring canned green chilies
- They usually come in 4-ounce cans equalling half of a cup.
Measuring Spinach
- You can do this leniently.
- A cup is about the size of your fist.
Wilting spinach
- This cooking method means the spinach is not cooked for a long time but just enough to keep its bright green color and nutrients. This usually takes about 30 seconds.
Storage: Refrigerator
- To store in the refrigerator, place the rice and chickpea curry in separate 2-inch shallow pans to cool down quickly.
- Then store in an air-tight sealing container.
- The rice and curried chickpeas will last for up to four days.
Storage: Freezer
- First, follow the refrigeration process mentioned above.
- Then you can place it in the freezer in a labeled, airtight container.
Reheat: Stovetop
- Thaw it out entirely in the refrigerator to prevent bacterial growth.
- For the rice, I suggest heating it slowly in a saucepan on low heat covered with a lid with an ice cube, occasionally stirring to prevent scratching on the bottom of the pan.
- For the curried chickpeas, slowly heat in a saucepan on medium heat covered with a lid, occasionally stirring until hot.
Reheat: Microwave
- Thaw it out entirely in the refrigerator to prevent bacterial growth.
- For the rice, heat one to two cups in a bowl for two minutes with one ice cube and a microwave cover, stirring the dish content every minute until it is hot.
- If you are doing both, do the first step with the rice but only for 1 minute, then pour 1 to 2 cups of the curried chickpeas on top and cook for 1 minute. Stir the ingredients in the bowl and cook for another 30 seconds.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
609.75Fat
17.3 gSat. Fat
6.93 gCarbs
81.19 gFiber
10.44 gNet carbs
70.75 gSugar
5.15 gProtein
13.14 gSodium
974.5 mgCholesterol
0 mgThese are calculations based on search results of the ingredient's nutritional information.
Food safety
- Cook chicken to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C).
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food that previously touched raw meat to prevent foodborne illness from contaminated uncooked meats.
- Wash hands after touching raw meat to prevent cross-contamination.
- Don't leave food at room temperature for extended periods; this can breed bacteria.
- Never leave cooking food unattended to prevent burns and fires.
- Use oils with a high smoke point to avoid harmful compounds.
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.
See more guidelines at USDA.gov.
See more guidelines at USDA.gov.
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