Chickpea, Potato and Coconut Curry
Subtly spiced but delicious, this simple curry has chickpeas and roasted potatoes in a coconut-yogurt sauce flavoured with earthy spices like cumin, coriander, mustard, turmeric, and fennel seed.
Add the roasted potatoes just before serving to keep them crunchy, but leftovers will still taste good even when the potatoes have softened.
Lovely served with flatbreads and a crunchy vegetable salad.
Ingredients
For the spiced coconut-yogurt sauce
- 30 g cashews (blanched almonds can be substituted)
- 2 tsp coriander seed
- 2 tsp cumin seed
- 2 tsp fennel seed
- 8 black peppercorns
- 250 ml whole milk yogurt
- 125 - 250 ml water see Recipe Note 1
- 90 g desiccated coconut
For the potatoes
- 500 g potatoes peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks (weight is before preparation)
- salt to taste
- olive or other oil for air frying or roasting
For the curry base and serving
- 2 tbsp coconut oil or other oil or ghee
- 2 tsp black mustard seeds
- 1 large onion halved and thinly sliced
- 6 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1 - 2 green chillies deseeded if liked, chopped or thinly sliced
- 3 cm ginger root grated or finely chopped
- 3 cm turmeric root or 1 tsp ground turmeric: see Recipe Note 2
- 8 fresh curry leaves or 1 tsp ground fenugreek: see Recipe Note 3
- salt to taste
- 240 g cooked, drained chickpeas approx. 1 standard can after draining
- 1 small bunch coriander roughly chopped
- lemon wedges to serve
Instructions
Make the spiced coconut-yogurt sauce
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Put the nuts and spices in a frying pan over medium heat. Toast, stirring all the time, until the nuts are browned and the spices are giving off their aroma.
Transfer to a blender or coffee grinder (or use a pestle and mortar) and grind to a fine powder.
Put the yogurt, 125ml of the water, the desiccated coconut, and the spice powder in a blender, whizz until smooth then set aside.
Make the curry base
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Put the coconut oil in a large frying or sauté pan over high heat.
When hot, stir in the mustard seeds and fry until they pop and turn a grey colour.
Turn down the heat to medium-low then stir in the sliced onion. Cook until the onion is quite limp and starting to brown (12 - 15 min), adding the garlic, chillies and ginger, plus fresh turmeric if using, for the final 5 minutes.
Tip: you can start cooking the potatoes while the onions are softening.
Increase the heat to high and add the curry leaves if using. Stir for a few seconds then add the spiced coconut-yogurt sauce, ¾ tsp of salt, plus the ground turmeric and/or ground fenugreek if using.
When the sauce comes to a boil, add the chickpeas, then reduce the heat to low.
Cook, stirring often to prevent sticking, until the sauce is reduced and the raw flavour is cooked out of the spices (15 - 20 min). If it looks dry before the spices are cooked, or you'd prefer a looser texture, stir in extra water.
When done to your liking, taste and add extra salt if necessary.
Roast the potatoes (start while the curry base is cooking)
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Put the potato chunks in a saucepan of salted cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer until almost tender.
Drain well, transfer to a bowl, then toss with the olive oil plus a little extra salt.
To air fry
Preheat your air fryer at 200°C for 3 minutes. Add the potatoes and cook for 15 - 20 minutes or until crispy and done to your liking. Shake often for even browning.
Roast in the oven
Preheat your oven to 230°C / 210° Fan / Gas 8 / 450 F with a baking tray inside. Tip the potatoes into the hot tray and roast, turning often, until crispy and done to your liking (approx. 20 - 25 min).
Keep hot or time them so they're done at the same the curry base.
Finishing the curry and serving
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When the curry is ready, stir in the hot potatoes and most of the coriander.
Serve sprinkled with the remaining coriander plus lemon wedges to squeeze over.
Recommended accompaniments: Yogurt Flatbreads add 2 tsp each of nigella seeds and garlic powder to the flour when making the dough. Crunchy shredded raw vegetable salad (cabbage, carrot, onion, peppers etc.) dressed with cumin and mustard seeds sizzled in hot oil.
Recipe Notes
Note 1: Amount of water plus alternative.
The lower amount of water shown in the ingredients will result in a dryish curry which I prefer. However, you can add more for a looser result. Additionally, for a richer, creamier curry, stir in 4 or more tablespoons of tinned coconut milk at the same time as the chickpeas.
Note 2: Turmeric.
Fresh turmeric, which looks similar to ginger root, is subtly spicy and less bitter than ground turmeric. Also like ginger, it will keep for months in the freezer. If you can't buy it locally then look online. Alternatively, substitute with 1 level tsp of ground turmeric and add it with the spiced coconut-yogurt sauce.
Note 3: Curry leaves.
Fresh curry leaves (dried aren't recommended) add a very special flavour and aroma that’s hard to describe. If you can't buy them locally then look online. Leaves freeze very well. If you don’t have curry leaves then you can add a teaspoon of ground fenugreek with the spiced coconut-yogurt sauce. This won’t taste the same, but it does bring a little more complex flavour.
Recipe based on one by Yamuna Devi in The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking (Leopard, 1995).