COCONUT CURRY GARBANZO BEANS
Coconut curry garbanzo beans is a flavorful healthy recipe. This chickpea dish is vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and tastes amazing served over rice!
Happy Registered Dietitian Day! How am I celebrating the day dedicated to my fellow dietitians? With a big batch of coconut curry garbanzo beans, of course.
This flavorful dish is packed with fiber and lean protein. It’s also vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free*, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Another selling point, it’s cheap. That’s one of the benefits of vegetarian cooking. The protein source in this dish is 2 cans of garbanzo beans. I can usually find a can of organic beans for around $1. Compare to that to the cost of a pound of chicken or beef and there is a big savings.
To make this dish, heat some coconut oil in a large skillet. You could really use any oil you like. I was just keeping with the coconut theme.
Stir in some chopped onion and sweet pepper and cook until tender.
Stir in some ground coriander, sugar, salt, red curry paste, tomato paste, grated ginger, and minced garlic. Let that cook for about 2 minutes. Then, stir in some coconut milk and canned garbanzo beans that have been drained and rinsed.
Admittedly, in the spirit of Registered Dietitian Day, I probably should have used light coconut milk. That would cut back on some of the fat in this dish. But, regular coconut milk is what I had in the pantry and it ended up being delicious. Please feel free to use light coconut milk. It shouldn’t make much of a difference in flavor.
At this point, check for seasoning. I added 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper to give it a little heat.
Let the curry simmer uncovered for 20 to 30 minutes. As it simmers, the liquids will reduce and the sauce will thicken.
I got my curry going first. Then, started a pot of rice. Once the rice was cooked, the curry was done.
To serve this dish, pour the warm curry over cooked rice. Enjoy!
- 1 tbsp. coconut oil, or your favorite cooking oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 medium sweet bell pepper, chopped
- 1 tsp. ground coriander
- 1 tsp. sugar
- ½ tsp. salt
- ¼ cup red curry paste
- 2 tbsp. tomato paste
- 1 tsp. grated ginger root
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 (15 oz.) cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15 oz.) can coconut milk
- Optional: cayenne pepper to taste – I used ¼ tsp.
- Cooked rice for serving
- In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add the onion and bell pepper. Cook for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the coriander, sugar, salt, red curry paste, tomato paste, ginger, and garlic. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Stir in the garbanzo beans, coconut milk, and optional cayenne pepper. Simmer uncovered for 20 to 30 minutes.
- Serve over cooked rice.
Use light coconut milk to reduce the fat content in this dish.
*NOTE: If you are on a gluten-free diet, be sure to check the labels on the tomato paste and red curry paste to ensure they don’t contain added gluten/wheat.
