Hands-down one of the most popular recipes on my page in the last few years. This recipe has the continent of Asia written all over it and I know a dish like this is very prominent in the Indian culture as well. My take on it is totally based on my taste buds so feel free to add any spices you personally like. This dish is something I go to time and time again and I hope you give it a try because it’s outstanding. It makes the perfect lunch or dinner and it can be stored in the fridge up to 3 days. It reheats beautifully so you are more than welcome to take it for work. If you do not want rice on the side you can absolutely enjoy it with NAAN or pita of choice or even on top of cauliflower rice as a low-carb option. This dish is so incredibly easy and it will blow you away.
Creamiest Coconut Chickpeas with Rice
Ingredients
- 2 cups of cooked jasmine rice — or any rice you like
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil — or avocado oil
- 1 small finely diced onion
- 3 minced garlic cloves
- 1.5 cups cooked chickpea’s — or a 14 oz can
- ⅓ cup tomato sauce
- the cream that sits on top of a can of coconut milk — 3 or 4 tablespoons
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2-1 teaspoon turmeric powder — I measured with my heart
- 1 cup finely chopped spinach is optional
- parsley or cilantro for garnish is also optional
Instructions
- In a pan on medium-high heat start by sautéing the onion until translucent. This should take 1 to 2 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for another 30 seconds. You do not want anything to burn.
- Add the chickpeas, tomato sauce, the cream that sits on top of a can of coconut milk and stir. Add the spices to taste and stir again. You are more than welcome to add the salt pepper and turmeric before you add the wet ingredients but in terms of taste it doesn’t make a difference to me in this dish.
- Optionally add some chopped spinach, give it a stir and take it off the heat. Garnish with parsley, cilantro, or even basil it’s totally up to you. Top it off on top of rice and enjoy.
12 Responses
I’m really not trying to be a hater here, because in fact I love new recipes and support people who share them. But this meal at best was mediocre. It lacked flavor and balance. I even tried rescuing it by adding some spice and additional coconut cream but the improvement was only marginal.
Thank you so much for the feedback. You may have to adjust and add other seasonings according to taste as we all have different pallets 🙂
4 stars for this recipe *with modifications*. First the positive—this came together so easily and was very satisfying. Even my choosy husband enjoyed it. I’m talking dinner on the table in 30-40 min, which is everything when you’re parenting a toddler and are on the clock to make bedtime. The turmeric really turns up the flavors and marries the whole dish together. Onions require a much longer cooking time (5-10 min w/ stirring; undercooked onions are the WORST); I used half the coconut cream in the can and triple the amount of crushed tomatoes (the sauce is really the star here so more is more, ya know?); for garlic, 3-4 big cloves or 6-8 small; 2 cups chopped baby spinach at the end was great (really cooks down, as spinach does); and lastly, this also pairs well with basmati rice (put those Indian leftovers to good use!). Make sure everything is sufficiently salted and I’m actually a big fan of adding 1/2 tsp sea salt per cup of rice when making it fresh.
Thank you so much for the feedback that means a lot to me ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
I really like this recipe, but I also added some basil paste and thai seasoning paste. This gives it a lot more flavor for those looking for stronger taste.
I do this often with sun-dried tomato pesto too ! Couldn’t agree more and THANK you for the feedback soooo helpful love the improvisation
Can u use coconut cream instead?
You absolutely can but it might be a little bit thicker 🙂
My whole family loved this dish! I used a comment in the reviews to help modify it slightly. I used 2 cans chickpeas (one can would not have been enough for my family), 1 whole can of tomato sauce, 3/4 can of coconut milk, 1 1/2 teaspoons of turmeric, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, 3/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of pepper, and a splash of lime juice. Kept olive oil, onion, and spinach amounts the same as listed in recipe. Put a sprinkle of dries basil on top before serving. Mine turned out reddish, not yellowish like the licture because of additional tomato sauce. Yummy!!!
Hi Jess! omg I LOVE THIS!!!!
So glad i saw this on instagram!! It was delicious!!!and so easy!!! I did add a little more garlic and i had a tumeric that had a hint of nutmeg and cinnamon. This will definitely be in weekly rotation! Thank you again! Excited to try more of your recipes
Thanks Yafa such a sweet comment