Sunday, October 9, 2011

Iron Chef Challenge: Chickpea, Ginger and Peanut Curry

Here is my response to the Vegan MoFo Iron Chef Challenge #1.  The challenge was to come up with an original recipe using chick peas.

Before I present my offering - a disclaimer.  I had been planning to make Ginger Peanut Soup for dinner tonight.  It is a fabulous recipe that a friend gave me recently (thanks Sarah!) and we love it.  Not wanting to miss out on the Iron Chef fun I decided to mod the recipe, including of course, adding the all important chick peas.

So my recipe is not really one that I have created from scratch.  I did adjust the amounts of some of the ingredients and I added potatoes, coriander, a little lemon, coconut milk and of course chickpeas.  Will this be acceptable for the challenge or am I disqualified?

Challenge aside, the result was a delicious, creamy, satisfying, multicultural, soupy curry.  We had it on its own, however you could serve it with rice, naan or even couscous if you wanted to. 




Ingredients
3 tablespoons oil (I used peanut oil)
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed or chopped
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
2 potatoes, diced
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cups cauliflower, divided into small florets
2 cups broccoli, divided into small florets
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can chickpeas
2 cups vegetable stock
⅓ cup natural peanut butter
1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)
½ cup coconut milk
Squeeze of lemon juice (about 1 teaspoon)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method
1. Saute the onion, garlic, ginger, potatoes and cayenne pepper in the oil for ~ 10 minutes.
2. Add the cauilflower, broccoli, tomatoes, chickpeas, stock, peanut butter and coriander.  Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally
3. Add the coconut milk and lemon juice.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve with a drizzle of coconut milk.


7 comments:

Allysia said...

Mmm, that looks so creamy and rich and comfort-foody. Chickpeas and Indian-esque food are comfort food to me, despite never growing up with it. I don't know why, maybe because of the rich flavors and how hearty they tend to be. So satisfying.

Sarah said...

That looks greet. I'm definitely going to try your version.

Mandy said...

Allysia - yes this is comfort food :)

Sarah - thanks again for the original soup recipe! I will definitely still make the soup recipe when we want something lighter. But this will fit the bill when some thing creamy and indulgent is wanted.

VeggieAmanda said...

This looks wonderful! It is only 10 a.m. where I am and I am already ready for lunch. Definite comfort food! :-)

Angela @ Vegangela.com said...

This looked so good, I mentioned it in my Vegan MoFo roundup, here: http://www.vegangela.com/2011/10/17/vegan-mofo-roundup/. Can't wait to try it!

Mandy said...

Thanks Amanda and Angela :)
Vegan comfort food is so good!

VeggieAmanda said...

Chickpeas, ginger, peanuts, and curry are all among my favorite ingredients! Yum! The ingredients all sound perfect together!