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Vegan Chickpea Coconut Curry – Instant Pot or Saucepan. This 1 Pot Coconut Chickpea Curry uses dried chickpeas and coconut milk. Add other veggies like sweet potato, squash. No Tomato Curry! Vegan Glutenfree Nutfree Soyfree Oilfree Recipe. Jump to Recipe
Nothing beats the flavor and texture of chickpeas cooked from dried chickpeas. Canned chickpeas are good as a speedy option but they cant compare to freshly cooked chickpeas. This is where pressure cooking makes things faster.ย I cook the chickpeas directly with the creamy sauce in the Instant Pot.ย You can cook this in a saucepan over stovetop as well, with dried chickpeas or with precooked-canned chickpeas. See Notes under the recipe for instructions.
This Creamy Vegan Chickpea Coconut Curry, needs 1 Pot, is super creamy, freezer friendly (although you will want to eat all of it), and flexible to flavor preference. Coconut milk makes this a luscious coconut curry. Saute the onion, garlic, chile. Add in the spices such as turmeric, cumin, curry powder, garam masala or add thai curry pastes, or berbere. Add the soaked chickpeas and coconut milk and pressure cook! Finish the dish with pepper flakes and lime. Serve with rice/grains or flatbread. Lets get cooking!
More Instant Pot Recipes to try
- IP Lentil Chili.ย GF
- IP Mushroom Wild Rice Soup.ย GF
- Japanese Veggie Curry.ย GF
- Instant Pot Lasagna Soup with Red lentils.ย ย โ So Easy
- IP Potato Chickpea Soup.ย GF
- Tomato Soup with Tofu Croutons.
- Cauliflower soup.ย GF
- Tortilla soup with red lentils.ย GF
Step by Step Photos:
Soak your chickpeas for atleast an hour in hot water. Prep the ingredients.
Saute the onion, garlic, chili until golden. Then add in the spices and herbs and mix, and then the drained chickpeas.
Add coconut milk and water, close the lid and pressure cook.
Let the pressure release naturally. If the mixture is thin, mash some of the chickpeas and saute for a few mins to thicken.
When to add vegetables:
- If using dried chickpeas, the pressure cooking time of 40 mins will over cook the vegetables. Add vegetables such as sweet potato, cauliflower, squashes, root vegetables after pressure cooking for 35 mins. Quick release, add veggies, close the lid and pressure cook for another 6 to 8 mins, depending on whether the chickpeas were done at 35 mins.
- Or you can roast the veggies and add them when you open the lid and simmer on saute for 2 mins.
- If using canned, chickpeas, then add the veggies with the chickpeas.
Serve with rice, garnished with cilantro, lemon juice and coconut milk.
How to make your favorite Chickpea Coconut Curry
- This Recipe is flexible to your flavor preference. Use spices and herbs of choice. You can also add in some tomatoes with the chickpeas.
- Add veggies of choice such as carrots, sweet potatoes, celery etc.
- Serve it with quinoa or whole grain bread for a hearty higher protein meal.
- Chickpeas can have variable cooking time based of age of the dried beans. I like the chickpeas to be melt in your mouth in this creamy curry, so I cook for 45 minutes (if soaked for an hour). Adjust the times based you your preference of texture anywhere from 35 mins to 50 mins.
- To double, Use 2 cans of coconut milk and 1.5 cups of water.
Chickpea Coconut Curry (Instant Pot or Saucepan)
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup water or broth, or use 1 tsp oil
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 hot green chili, ,chopped (such as serrano, jalapeno) or use mild chili or omit
- 1 tsp each ground cumin,, , ground coriander
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1/4 tsp each cinnamon, ย , ground cardamom
- 1/3 tsp cayenne or to taste
- 1/4 tsp grouond sage or dried oregano
- 1 red bell pepper, ,chopped or sliced
- 1 tbsp minced ginger
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup dry uncooked chickpeas, ,soaked for atleast 30 mins in boiling hot water (4 hours to overnight soaking works best)
- 13.5 oz can coconut milk, , reserve 2 tbsp for garnishing
- 1 cups water, ,depends on curry consistency preference., use 1/2 cup for thicker, 1.5 cups for soupier
- lemon/lime juice, , cilantro, pepper flakes for garnish
Instructions
- Press saute on the Instant Pot. Add onion, garlic, chili and a good pinch of salt. Cook for 3 to 4 mins until translucent. Deglaze with more broth if needed. (See notes for saucepan)
- Add the spices and mix in. (You can add spice blends of choice here such as curry powder, garam masala, berbere or jamaican curry powder, or curry pastes instead of listed spices).
- Add the bell pepper and ginger and mix in. Drain the chickpeas and add to the pot. Add salt, coconut milk and water and give it a good mix to pick up any stuck bits
- Cancel saute, Close the lid to sealing. Pressure cook at high pressure for 40 to 45 mins (30 mins for overnight soak)**. Let the pressure release naturally then open the lid.
- Taste and adjust salt and flavor, add more spices if needed. If the mixture is thin, Mash some of the chickpeas to thicken or blend half cup of the curry and mix in, saute for a few mins if needed. (Fold in some baby spinach at this point while the chickpeas are still hot). Garnish with lemon, pepper flakes, remaining coconut milk and cilantro and serve over rice or grains.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
So delicious and easy! I used cooked chickpeas using the stovetop method and it came out great. Will definitely be making this again. Thanks!
awesome!
This was the first recipe I tried with my new instapot. It was an overwhelming success! My daughter and husband loved it and have already called dibs on the leftovers. Thank you for another wonderful recipe.
yay!!!
I’m excited to make this recipe for a potluck. I’m just a little unsure about the spices listed. There are a number of spices and options for spices in the recipe. Then in the notes, it says you can opt to use curry powder. If I use curry powder, do I omit the other spices or add them in addition to the curry? Are all of these spices complimentary and I’m safe whatever I do? Do the spices listed create a curry flavor or should I go with the curry powder?
I love your site and books! I recommend them to many!
Yes You can use it instead of or in combination with them. I usually add a bit of garam masala or berbere with the listed spices. I dont generally like the store curry powders as their flavor balance isnt pleasing to me. Curry powder usually will have cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon,, nutmeg etc. The ones with extra cinnamon and ground ginger are bitter. I prefer adding the individual spices so i can adjust the flavor later with adding more of one or the other. ground single spices also dont have weird additives.
Hi! Iโm new to the IP and was wondering if the pressure cooker should be set to high or normal. Thx!
high pressure. The default is usually set t high pressure on instant pot and most pressure cookers, so use high pressure whenever not mentioned
Thank you! I was wondering about this-high pressure it is!
Velvety smooth mouth feel with lovely comfort flavor, this curry made a great weeknight dinner. And so easy to prepare! I added roasted cauliflower, zucchini, and broccoli that I needed to get a move on out of the fridge to the finished curry and served over rice. It was delicious! Thank you for another winner Richa!
awesome!
I will be using my new Instant
Pot for the first time. I would like to add a sweet potato. At what point do I add it and do I cut into cubes? I have no experience with pressure cooking so concerned about using the Instant Pot correctly.
They will soften a lot in the time for the chickpeas if you add them cubed in the beginning, so if you want them to be firm, Cook the chickpeas for 35 mins, then quick release carefully, then add the cubed sweet potatoes, close the lid and pressure cook for 8 mins. natural release.
THANK YOU RICHA!
Finally a delicious chickpea curry recipe without tomatoes, I’m intolerant to nightshades ( along with a hundred other foods) so I omit the bell pepper. Added mushrooms when I cooked the onion and some cubed cooked sweet potato at the end, to make it more nutritional for little one… delicious!!
I’ve used so many of your recipes because you have alot that don’t contain ingredients Im intolerant or allergic too, and I can modify the ones that do contain ingredients i can’t have. ๐
awesome!
I’m in the same boat and was excited to find this recipe!
Richa, it would be amazing if you had a “night shade free” option on your Recipes menu. ๐
yes, i planning to add it.
You are awesome! Thank you.
What size Instant Pot does one need to make this recipe? Can it be made in a 3 qt.? How about your other Instant Pot recipes? I’m anxious to give them a try but am new to the Instant Pot. Thanks! This curry looks scrumptious!
6 qt. usually the times will remain the same for different size pots unless mentioned. For the written recipe, 3 qt will work. Use 1 cup of water. For more of my recipes, 3 qt should be sufficient. Anything that says it serves 8 or more will be a larger volume and that you might have to half.
Hi,
Pressure cook the soaked beans for 40 minutes? Really? I’ve been cooking chickpeas (soaked overnight) in a pressure cooker (and now , Instant Pot) for decades, and mine only need 10 minutes at pressure, then a natural release. I like a little bit of “bite” to my beans, but even at 10 minutes they are pretty soft. The Instant Pot website with cooking times states that soaked chickpeas need 10-15 minutes.
My apologies Richa. The cooking time assumes just a 1 hour soak – as is stated in the recipe. I should never doubt that you know your stuff. This recipe looks delish, and I will be cooking it in the near future. Brendan
I just got an insta pot and this is the second thing I made with it and for some reason the coconut milk broke. I only had it on for 20 minutes + another 20 to release pressure because I used canned chickpeas. Do you have any idea what I did wrong? Should I wait and add the coconut milk later? Thank you so much
Some brands of coconut milk kind of separate under pressure but itโs not really going bad or anything itโs just a bit of separation. You can sautรฉ it. You can thicken it by blending some of the chickpeas and then sautรฉing for a few minutes longer so that the mixture thickens makes the final results smooth so it wonโt have the separated texture
I mention on the post that I am going for a creamy profile, so soft creamy chickpeas in a creamy saucy curry. You can cook them for shorter time. Updated the instructions to add soaked cooking time as well. Many factors come into play, age of the beans, elevations, volume, personal preference etc. So you can always adjust to less or more time once you know your Instant pot and preference of txtures in the beans and lentils. Let me know how it works out!
Wonderfull!