Saturday, July 17, 2010

African Curried Coconut Soup with Chickpeas


I was having a hankering for curry today and initially went to look through my Modern Spice cookbook that I won through a blog.  I was a bit disappointed there weren’t any curry recipes.  So after browsing online I looked through some recipes at Epicurious.com and came across an African Curried Coconut Soup with Chickpeas and decided this would be the recipe that would be for tonight’s dinner.  During my browsing quest, I also found a Curried Smoke Chicken and Wild Rice Salad and a Zucchini Curry that I definitely want to try soon!

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African Curried Coconut Soup with Chickpeas

Ingredients

2 tbsp canola oil
1 medium onion (about 6 ounces), chopped
1 medium red bell pepper (about 6 ounces), chopped
1 jalapeño chili, seeded and finely chopped
2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1 (15-oz) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 cup chopped tomatoes, seeded and peeled, fresh or canned
1 tsp mild curry powder
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 (14-oz) can light coconut milk
3/4 cup cooked white or brown rice
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro or parsley (optional)

Directions

In a medium stockpot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, and chili; cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Add the broth, chickpeas, tomatoes, curry powder, salt, and black pepper; bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer gently, uncovered, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 5 minutes. Serve warm.

Latin cook’s notes

When you think of curry, the first term you might think of is “spicy”.  This dish didn’t have the usual spice you would have thought. I was completely amazed at how the coconut added such a subtle flavor, yet it enveloped the entire dish and deterred any hotness from the jalapeno; and I appreciated that the spices weren’t overpowering.  Once I added the soup on top of the Basmati rice, oh my!  It was the perfect dish.  I actually didn’t add the rice to the soup as suggested in the directions.  Once I served myself some rice, I added the “soup” on top of the rice.  There was a party definitely going on in my mouth!  I was very pleased to hear from the hubby that this dish is another he would eat again if I made it in the future.   I also popped some Trader Joe’s Garlic Naan into the oven.  Now that makes a complete meal.

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