I’m not fooling anyone by now– I eat a lot of chickpeas. What you can’t tell from the blog though is just how different all of these stews taste– so yeah, this may be the fifth variation of chickpea stew on the blog, but it’s a brand new experience. Trust me.

It’s that time of year again– the fridge is filling up with lots of unmarked jars of different sauces, pickles, and other experiments that I’ve been messing with on the weekends. I made a jar of some kind of paste I made with bell/serrano peppers, garlic, lime leaves, ginger, lime juice, shallots, and cilantro and decided to use it *yet again* to cheat monotony with the chickpeas. Do I remember how I made the paste? Not exactly, but I’ll try to work backwards and get you close in the recipe. I called this a vegetarian recipe,  but I believe “true” Thai curry pastes often include dried shrimp or fish sauce– so if you have it on hand, don’t hold back!

I haven’t given up on the “traditional” ways to make coconut rice either, but the rice cooker hack I’ve been using lately hasn’t failed me yet. Bonus points if you add a little coconut milk– but shaved coconut, and sesame oil work well alone.

Let’s cook.

You’ll need:

4 Cups Chickpeas, pre-cooked

1 Bell Green Pepper, minced

2 Shallots, minced

4 Cloves of Garlic, minced

1 Cup Cilantro, minced

1 Cup Green Onion, minced

1 Tbs Ginger, minced

1/2 Cup Curry Leaves

1 Kaffir Lime Leaf

4 Cups Brown Rice

2 Cups Shaved Coconut

1/2 Cup Coconut Milk

2 Tbs Sesame Seeds

2 Limes

1 Serrano Chili

3 Tbs Soy Sauce

1 Tbs Coriander

1 Tbs Turmeric

1 Tbs Paprika

1 Tbs Methi Seeds

1 Tbs Dried Shrimp

Salt & Pepper to taste

1. Combine cilantro, curry leaves,  ginger, garlic, green onions, bell pepper, shallots, lime leaf, lime juice, dried shrimp, soy sauce, turmeric, methi, coriander, salt and pepper in a blender, then puree into a thick paste. Set aside.

2. Combine Rice, coconut milk, salt, sesame oil,  coconut, sesame seeds, and water in a rice cooker, and cook according to your cooker’s instructions.

3. Stir-Fry 2 tablespoons of curry paste on medium-high heat until fragrant,  then add any leftover bell pepper, shallot, and ginger. Add chili powder if desired, then stir in chickpeas until coated.

4. Serve over rice.

Done.