This South Indian Coconut Chickpea Curry is a spicy and super delicious curry made with white chickpeas, coconut and spices. A vegan dish.

In this recipe the real flavor comes from the coconut and whole spices. You can actually get a distinct taste of coconut. There is a subtle sweetness and this channa masala is not sour or tangy.

This spicy coconut chickpea curry goes well with rice, roti, paratha or poori. It can even go very well with bhature (leavened fried breads). If you are fond of chole bhature then you can consider serving it with the homemade bhatura.

I make varieties of chickpea curry recipes at home. My all-time favorite Is this authentic and flavorsome Punjabi Chana Masala. The recipe gives a good balance of spiciness, taste and flavor. It tastes like the chickpea curry you get in the streets of Delhi and Punjab.

The recipe posted here is a South Indian version of chickpea curry with coconut. So as the name suggests, This curry has South Indian flavors and taste awesome. basically in this recipe, all the ingredients which are commonly used in South Indian cooking are added, with grated coconut being one of the main ingredients.

In the Punjabi style or North Indian version, onions, tomatoes, spices and dry pomegranate seeds or dry mango powder, make the masala paste and give a spicy and slightly sour taste to the curry. Apart from the above ingredients, garam masala powder or chana masala powder is also added.

I make this recipe, with mildly hot 2 red chilies for a low spiced version at times. And on occasions, I add 4 dry red chilies to make it spicy. So you can vary the amount of red chilies as per your taste, spice preference and the quality of red chilies.

The same recipe can also be made with black chickpeas, potato or green peas.

Serve this coconut chickpea curry hot with chapati or puri or naan bread or kulcha or plain paratha or lachha paratha or bhatura or aloo paratha or bread or steamed rice accompanied with lemon and onion slices.

How to make coconut chickpea curry

A) cooking chickpeas or chana

1. First rinse 1 cup dried chickpeas for a couple of times in water. Then soak the chickpeas in enough water overnight or for 8 to 9 hours. Below is a photo of soaked chickpeas.

2. Drain the water. Rinse the chickpeas again a couple of times.

3. Again drain and add the soaked chickpeas in a pressure cooker.

4. Add ½ tsp salt.

5. Add 3 cups of water.

6. Stir and pressure cook the chickpeas for 18 to 20 whistles on medium to high flame. The chickpeas should be completely cooked and have a melt in the mouth consistency.

Note – If cooking Chickpeas in a pot, then add about 3.5 to 4 cups water with salt to the chickpeas. Cover and cook the chickpeas till they softened.

7. When the chickpeas are cooking, you can prepare the masala. Here are the spices that we will roast first – ½ tbsp fennel, ½ tbsp cumin seeds, 1 small piece of stone flower/dagad phool (optional), 4 to 5 black peppercorns, 2 green cardamoms, 2-3 cloves, 1 tbsp coriander seeds, 1 black cardamom, 1 inch cinnamon, 2 dry red chilies. For a spicy taste, add about 3 to 4 dry red chilies. The amount of red chilies to be added depends on the heat quotient in the chilies. So if you use red chilies which have a high heat quotient, then just 1 or 2 dry red chilies would be fine.

8. In a pan or skillet, on a low flame dry roast the spices till they become fragrant.

9. Then add ½ cup tightly packed grated coconut to the spices and begin to roast.

10. Stir continuously while roasting the coconut, so that there is uniform browning.

11. Roast till the coconut becomes golden. Remove the pan and allow this mixture to cool.

12. Once the coconut+spice mixture is cooled, add them to a wet grinder jar. Remove the husk from the black cardamom and just add its seeds in the grinder.

13. Add about ⅔ to ¾ cup water and grind to a smooth paste. Keep aside.

14. Heat 3 tbsp oil in a pan.

15. Add ½ tsp mustard seeds and allow them to crackle.

16. Then add 1 tej patta (Indian bay leaf) and stir.

17. Add ⅓ cup chopped onion.

18. Stir and saute till the onions turn translucent and soften.

19. Then add 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste, ¼ tsp turmeric powder, a pinch of asafoetida and 10-12 curry leaves.

20. Stir and saute till the raw aroma of ginger-garlic disappears.

21. Add ½ cup chopped tomato.

22. Saute for about 2 to 3 minutes till the tomatoes soften.

23. Add the ground masala paste.

24. Stir very well.

25. Then add the drained chickpeas. Reserve the stock.

26. Stir again well and saute for a minute.

27. Now add 1 cup stock or stock+water and 1 or 2 slit green chilies.

28. Season with salt as required. Do keep a check on salt as the stock already has salt.

29. Give a boil and then simmer the curry on a low to medium flame for 12-15 minutes or more till the curry thickens a bit and you see some oil floating on top. Mash a few chickpeas with the sides of the spoon to thicken the curry. Check the seasoning and add more salt as per your taste. Add more water if required.

30. Lastly, switch off the flame & lastly add 2 tbsp coriander leaves. Stir well.

31. Serve coconut chickpea curry a hot with pooris or naan or tandoori rotis or bhatura or aloo paratha or bread or jeera rice or steamed rice accompanied with lemon and onion slices.

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