Healthy Spiced Chickpea Stew with Coconut and Turmeric
By the Gracious Vegan
This recipe is a makeover of Alison Roman’s Spiced Chickpea Stew with Coconut and Turmeric, which got rave reviews and went viral across the internet. (If you search for “recipe that broke the internet” or “the stew,” her recipe is likely to come up.)
There was no way I was going to make a recipe with 1/4 cup olive oil and two cans of full-fat coconut milk. So here is my version without oil and with only one can of lite coconut milk (with fresh cashew milk substituting for the other can). I saved 1500+ calories over her recipe (a whole day’s worth of calories for some of us), and 131 grams of saturated fat (the equivalent of 12 Whoppers from Burger King). Yes, full-fat coconut milk looks so innocent, but it packs a punch of calories and saturated fat. This vegan chickpea stew tastes incredibly good, even without all that fat.
Makes about 8 cups (6 servings) (about 230 calories per serving, vs. about 500 calories for the original version)
Prepare 1.75 cups of fresh cashew milk by blending the following ingredients in a high-speed blender until the cashews are dissolved. Set aside.
1.75 cups water
1/3 cup raw cashews (if you don’t have a high-speed blender, soak them first for 20 minutes in hot water or 2 hours in cold water)
Meanwhile, water-sauté the following ingredients in a Dutch oven or other large saucepan until the onion is translucent, usually 5-7 minutes. (What is water-sauté?)
1 large yellow onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger
Add the following ingredients. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until stew has thickened and flavors have started to come together, 30 to 35 minutes.
Two (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
One (14.2-ounce) can lite coconut milk
2 cups vegetable stock
The 1.75 cups of cashew milk
1.5 teaspoons ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon (or more) red-pepper flakes
After 30-35 minutes, partially blend the soup with an immersion (stick) blender (leaving most of the chickpeas whole) or crush some of the chickpeas with a potato masher to make the stew creamy. If you want the stew a bit thicker, simmer until you've reached your desired consistency.
Add the following ingredients and stir, making sure the greens are submerged in the liquid. Cook a few minutes so they wilt and soften, 3 to 7 minutes, depending on what you’re using. (Swiss chard and spinach will wilt and soften much faster than kale or collard greens.)
1 bunch spinach, Swiss chard, kale, or collard greens, stems removed, cut or torn into bite-size pieces
1 teaspoon salt (or more or less to taste)
Freshly ground black pepper
Garnish with one or more of the following.
Fresh mint leaves
Additional red pepper flakes
Additional ground turmeric
Toasted pita or other flatbread
See also:
Timing: About 55 minutes
Gluten-free