Easy Eggplant Chickpea Curry (Vegan, Gluten Free)

Easy eggplant chickpeas curry is a delicious, creamy, and comforting plant-based recipe. It’s also naturally vegan, gluten free, and loaded with protein.

Curry is an easy and quick dinner recipe for busy days. The curry recipe is very forgiving and it’s also perfect to feed a crowd. Once you have the ingredients, you can go your own way: add or remove some ingredients, double the quantities if needed, and basically create your own version according to your tastes and the ingredients you have at hand. You can also prepare it in advance, double quantities if you wish, and then warm it up or even freeze some if you want.

By the way, what is curry?

It might come as a surprise to you, but curry is not a spice. It’s a mix of different spices (including coriander, turmeric, cumin, fenugreek, and chili pepper most of the time).

Curry is known for its many health benefits, such as the prevention of cancer or the protection against heart disease. It also reduces Alzheimer disease symptoms, eases pain and inflammation, and protects the immune system from bacterial infections. So many reasons to use it!

Good to know: curry usually tastes even better the day after, when the flavors had time to develop fully. A good reason to prepare it in advance! However, you might need to adjust the quantity of liquids (coconut milk) when you warm it up, to ensure the curry stays creamy enough.

How to prepare a vegan curry?

It’s relatively simple to make a curry vegan, as you can sneak in any vegetable of your choice and basically skip the meat or fish. Instead, I recommend you use plant-based protein, such as chickpeas, tofu, tempeh or quinoa.

Here I used chickpeas. Note that depending on how much time you have ahead of you before dinner, you can either cook dried chickpeas or go for a can. If you use canned chickpeas, I recommend you keep the chickpea water (also called aquafaba) for later. You can then make a delicious vegan chocolate mousse out of this magic ingredient. Plus, it’s always great to finish up a spicy meal with a sweet touch, and chocolate is just perfect in this regard.

A delicious summer curry with eggplants!

When it comes to the choice of veggies, I went for eggplants, that are just perfect in this season – at the end of summer. I’m literally obsessed with eggplants and I could use them in so many different recipes. Prepared with virgin olive oil, they are soft, tender, with a rich hearty flavor. In this curry recipe, I use them diced, but it’s up to you to slice them if you prefer.

Eggplants bring an interesting texture to the curry together with the chickpeas, all of them in a creamy coconut sauce. While eggplants are a good source of fiber, chickpeas are loaded with plant-based protein, making this vegan dish very satisfying. I like to serve it with a side of jasmin rice or basmati rice, and garnish with some fresh chopped cilantro. Add a glass of white wine if you wish and you’re all set.

If you’re looking for more eggplant recipes, go check out these goat cheese eggplant stacks, this vegan eggplant shakshuka, these eggplant rolls filled with hummus, or these vegetarian eggplant meatballs.

More plant-based curry recipes you’ll love:

• Comforting Cauliflower Lentil Curry (+video)
• Vegan chickpea curry with cauliflower rice
• Creamy Coconut Lentil Curry (vegan, gluten free)
• Mango curry tofu
• Spicy Thai Coconut Pumpkin Curry (Vegan, Gluten-Free)
• Mango Chutney Tofu Curry with Wild Rice (vegan, gluten-free)
• Vegan Thai Red Curry Noodle Soup
• Easy Vegan Thai Green Curry

Easy Eggplant Chickpea Curry (Vegan, Gluten Free)

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• Author: Delphine Fortin
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins
• Total Time: 35 mins
• Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
• Category: Plant-Based
• Cuisine: Healthy

Easy eggplant chickpeas curry is a delicious, creamy, and comforting plant-based recipe. It’s also naturally vegan, gluten free, and loaded with protein.

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Ingredients

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• 2–3 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 2 small-medium eggplants, chopped
• 1/2 cayenne pepper, minced (optional)
• 2–3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can (15 oz/425g) chickpeas*, drained and rinsed
• 1–2 Tablespoon curry powder (or 1 tbsp curry paste instead)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• Salt & pepper
• 1 can (400 ml) unsweetened coconut milk

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Instructions

1. Heat a large pan with olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add onions and eggplants and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add cayenne pepper, garlic, and cook for one more minute. Add olive oil at anytime if it’s too sticky.
2. Drain and rinse the chickpeas*, and add them to the pan.
3. Add all the spices, season with salt and pepper, and stir well. Cook for one more minute.
4. Pour coconut milk and simmer for another 4-5 minutes, with a lid on.
5. Serve your curry with yasmin rice and a side of fresh cilantro.

Notes

* You can keep the chickpea water to make some vegan chocolate mousse for dessert.

Chickpeas, Dairy-Free, Eggplant, Fall, Family-Friendly, Gluten-Free, Healthy, Soups & Stews, Summer, Vegan, Vegetarian

Did you make this recipe?

Lastly, if you make this Easy Eggplant Chickpea Curry (Vegan, Gluten Free), be sure to leave a comment and give this recipe a rating, letting me know how you liked it. And of course, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Thank you and enjoy!

Note: all photos are updated as of August 2019.