Trinidad-Style Chickpea Curry

Trini Chickpea Curry This chickpea curry, inspired by Trinidadian chana, is as tasty as it turmeric, garlic, and onions mingle with deliciously cooked chickpeas. If you cook this in advance and store in the refrigerator, you can have this ready-to-eat protein in 60 seconds to top your favorite grain or greens. These chickpeas are an excellent freezer staple - you can never have enough beans.

4 cups chickpeas (either cooked from 2 cups dried chickpeas or from 2 15-oz cans, drained and rinsed)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion (yellow)
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 small serrano chili pepper, membranes and seeds discarded, minced
3 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp fenugreek (methi), optional
1 1/4 cups water (or chickpea cooking liquid or broth), divided
1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp cilantro, chopped

Brown rice

If cooking chickpeas from dried beans, soak the beans overnight, drain, and place in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer until tender, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Drain the chickpeas, reserving the cooking liquid. If using canned chickpeas, drain and rinse the beans and set aside.
Use the same large pot you used to cook the chickpeas to heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add sliced onion and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and serrano chili and cook another 2 to 3 minutes, until fragrant.
Add the curry powder, turmeric, cumin, and optional fenugreek to the pot and stir for about 30 seconds.
Add 1/4 cup water, chickpea cooking liquid, or broth to the pot and stir. Add the cooked chickpeas to the pot, cover, turn the heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes.
Uncover the pot, add the remaining liquid and the salt and simmer uncovered for another 20 minutes. If you are storing this, you can now let it cook and portion into 1 cup containers and refrigerate.

If serving now, stir in the chopped cilantro. Serve with brown rice.

Source: Very Well Fit