I recently made a variation of Julia Turshen’s curried lentils, using cooked chickpeas in place of the dried lentils and adding a whole head of cauliflower florets to add a vegetal element. I made a few other changes to the recipe, too, but the spirit of the dish is the same: sauté aromatics, add cooked legume or uncooked lentil (or quick-cooking grain), simmer everything in a mix of coconut milk and water. If you have the chickpeas cooked ahead of time or if you use canned, it all comes together very quickly. It’s simple and delicious. Healthy, too.
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There are instructions below for cooking chickpeas from scratch, which will leave you with about 6 cups of chickpeas. If you want to use canned chickpeas, use 2 15-oz cans, drained and rinsed (about 4 cups). Cauliflower can be cooked ahead of time (step 2) and refrigerated until ready to use. A drizzle of harissa or chili oil at the end is nice here. When reheating, add water to reach desired consistency — the chickpeas will soak up the liquid as they sit.
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 pound dried chickpeas, see notes above if using canned Few sprigs thyme 1/2 onion
1 head cauliflower, 2 to 2.5 lbs. 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons kosher salt 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 small onion, diced to yield about 1 cup 1 tablespoon curry powder 13.5 oz can unsweetened coconut milk 4 cups of cooked chickpeas or 2 cans (15.5 ounces each) chickpeas, drained and rinsed 1/4 cup raisins, golden are nice 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts, optional 1 cup finely chopped cilantro Naan, for serving, optional
