This chickpea kale curry is a simple one-pot recipe made with cooked or canned chickpeas, kale, and pantry spices. It’s a quick vegan curry that pairs perfectly with steamed rice and makes a hearty rice bowl for busy weeknight dinners.
I often make this one-pot vegan curry for dinner when I want something warm and comforting without spending too much time in the kitchen. Even my kids enjoy this mildly spiced, creamy, and soupy curry.
This one-pot vegan dinner recipe uses only pantry staple ingredients and canned chickpeas to make a flavorful meal quickly. I love to use chickpeas to make everyday curries. If you also love chickpeas in curries, try my chickpea lentil curry and Indian chana masala recipes.
Ingredients
Here’s what I use to make this recipe at home, plus some tested swaps that have worked well for me. Scroll to the recipe card for exact measurements.
Chickpeas: I cooked soaked chickpeas in the Instant Pot and used here. Substitutions: Use canned chickpeas (rinsed and drained), or swap with other beans like black beans, white beans, or black-eyed peas.
Kale: I used red Russian kale for this curry. Substitutions: Tuscan kale, baby kale, or other greens like spinach, Swiss chard, collard greens, or mustard greens.
Aromatics: Finely chopped onion and fresh ginger are sautéed to build the base flavor. Sometimes, I even use garlic. Substitutions: Ginger garlic paste or powders if fresh isn't available.
Vegetables: I added colored bell peppers for extra texture and flavor. Substitutions: Carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, potato, sweet potato, peas, corn. If I am out of time, I use frozen vegetables.
Spice powders: I used red chili powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, and black pepper for warm, earthy flavors. Substitutions: Curry powder or curry paste. Adjust quantity to your spice preference.
Coconut milk: I used homemade full-fat coconut milk for a creamy base. Substitutions: Use canned coconut milk or replace it with water, soy milk, oat milk, or almond milk. I add almond butter, peanut butter, tahini, or regular cream (if not dairy-free) to make a richer curry for my kids.
Oil: I used avocado oil to sauté the aromatics and spices. Substitutions: Coconut oil, vegetable oil, ghee, vegan butter, or regular butter.
Detailed Steps
Prep the Chickpeas
- If you like to cook chickpeas from scratch, Instant Pot is so helpful. Check out my detailed post on Instant Pot chickpeas to cook dried and soaked chickpeas.
- If you are using canned chickpeas to make this curry, drain the chickpeas. Rinse them in fresh water and keep them aside till we use them.
Prep other ingredients
- Wash and chop the kale. And finely chop onions and keep them aside.
- If you are using veggies, chop them into small cubes so they can cook quickly, along with chickpeas.
Saute the ingredients
- Heat a cooking pot or a large pan. Once it is hot, add oil.
- Add cumin seeds and grated ginger. Let them splutter.
- Then goes finely chopped bell peppers. I used yellow and red bell pepper. And bell pepper works fine in this recipe.
- After sauteing peppers for 4 to 5 minutes, add cooked chickpeas and stir well.
Add the spices
- Add turmeric powder, ground cumin, coriander powder, red chili powder, ground black pepper, and salt.
- Mix everything well so that spice powders are coated well with the chickpeas.
Simmer the curry
- Now add coconut milk and let it come to a boil.
- Then goes the chopped kale. Simmer the curry on low heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until the kale is cooked as you like.
- I simmered for around 10 minutes. Stir in between once or twice to prevent sticking.
Garnish and serve
- Take the curry out of the heat. You can garnish the curry with fresh cilantro leaves or any fresh herbs. You could add a teaspoon of lemon juice as well.
- And the delicious Chickpeas Kale curry is ready to serve. I like to pair this with a bowl of basmati rice or flatbread.
Serving suggestions
Like all other curries, this chickpeas kale curry tastes best with hot basmati rice or any Indian flatbread like chapati, paratha, or naan bread. I sometimes serve this curry with cooked millet or quinoa to make the meal more filling.
You can use leftover curry as a sandwich filling or to fill tortilla wraps. And it will make a good carry-on lunch.
And you can add toasted bread croutons and serve this curry as a salad for a light and refreshing meal.
Storage
As we are using coconut milk, the shelf life of this curry is less. This curry keeps well for about 8 hours or so at room temperature. And you can keep it in the refrigerator for one or two days.
And you can freeze this curry for about 2 to 3 months and enjoy it on your busy days. Make sure to store the curry in portion-sized containers that are freezer safe. Thaw only the required amount of curry and consume it immediately.
Recipe FAQs
If you prefer a spicier curry, add more red chili powder or a pinch of cayenne pepper. You can even add green chili. For a mildly spiced curry, use curry powder.
You can also freeze it in airtight containers for up to three months. Just make sure to thaw it in the refrigerator overnight before reheating. Else, you can freeze the cooked chickpeas and make this curry when needed.
It depends on the type of kale and how you prefer it. But it should take you at most 10 minutes.
Have you tried this One Pot Vegan Chickpea Kale Curry recipe? Provide your feedback by giving a star rating and/or leaving comments. And don't forget to share the recipe with others on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or Twitter.
Recipe
Chickpea Kale Curry (Easy One-Pot Weeknight Recipe)
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Ingredients
- 3 cups chickpeas cooked (2 15-oz cans)
- 2 cups Kale I used Red Russian
- 1.5 cups coconut milk
- ½ cup onion chopped
- 1 red bell pepper finely chopped
- 1 yellow bell pepper finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 teaspoon ginger chopped or grated
- 1 teaspoon salt adjust according to your taste
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
Spices for chickpea kale curry
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon coriander powder
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Head a thick-bottomed cooking pot or a saucepan.
- Once it is hot, add oil, cumin seeds, and grated ginger. Let the cumin seeds splutter.1 tablespoon oil, ½ teaspoon cumin seeds, 1 teaspoon ginger
- Add finely chopped onion and let it cook for a couple of minutes.½ cup onion
- Add chopped bell pepper and saute them on medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes.1 red bell pepper, 1 yellow bell pepper
- Add cooked chickpeas and mix them well.3 cups chickpeas
- Gather all spice powders - cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili powder, turmeric powder, and black pepper powder. Now add these spices to the pan. Also, add salt and mix everything well.½ teaspoon red chili powder, ½ teaspoon ground cumin, ½ teaspoon coriander powder, ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder, ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon salt
- To this chickpea mixture, now add coconut milk. You can use plain water or vegetable stock also.1.5 cups coconut milk
- Add chopped kale and stir it once.2 cups Kale
- Now cook this chickpea kale curry over medium heat for about 6 to 8 minutes or until the kale is cooked as you like.
- Switch off the flame, and the delicious creamy kale chickpea curry is ready to serve.
Naveen says
I made this today and it tasted amazing. Thank you for sharing this recipe!