Indian butter chickpeas. A comforting curry that doubles down on the wow factor. Crispy chickpeas simmered in rich and creamy butter sauce to create a protein-rich delicious side dish for your next meal.
Vibrant color, creamy sauce, crispy chickpeas: This isn’t your run-of-the-mill chickpea curry recipe.
It’s time to give your restaurant favorite butter chicken a vegetarian makeover. With deliciousness at the forefront, this Indian butter chickpeas recipe is all about crispy chickpeas simmered in creamy sauce cooked right in your kitchen. .
Trust me, this vegetarian version of your favorite curry is incredibly delicious. To pull it off, I borrowed a few ideas from my favorite butter chicken curry, and gave it a quick and easy vegetarian twist.
Ahead, the recipe for Indian butter chickpeas that’s totally out of this world.
Fried chickpeas
Start with frying chickpeas alongside ground fenugreek, garam masala, and a touch of salt and pepper. To do this, heat up a little oil in a large pan, and toss chickpeas in the spices. For the chickpeas, you have two options - canned or dried.
Both are equally delicious, but it all depends on how much time you have. With dried chickpeas, you’ll need to soak them overnight, and cook them prior to frying with the spices. If you are time poor, go with the canned chickpeas option.
Once the chickpeas are lightly crispy and get a light golden hue, remove from the pan. We’ll add these chickpeas into the rich sauce at a later stage in the cooking process.
Rich, creamy, vibrant sauce
Who said comforting curries are just for winter? The vibrant sauce of this curry is apt to celebrate the goodness of chickpeas in spring and autumn (fall) too.
To make this rich sauce, fry up some onions until they turn soft and translucent. Stir fry some garlic and ginger followed by sautéing the spices. Next up, the ingredients that make this sauce vibrant and delicious. Tomato paste, cream, yogurt and milk. Mix everything together and simmer with fried chickpeas, a light sprinkle of garam masala and coriander (cilantro) leaves.
Complete the meal with fluffy rice, naans or even crusty bread. Check out these ideas:
- Butter Naan
- Garlic Naan | Garlic Butter Flavored Flatbread
- Bullet Naan
- Malabar Paratha | Kerala Parotta
- Lachha Paratha | Layered Paratha
- Saffron Rice
- Ghee Rice (Neychoru)
- Ginger Capsicum Fried Rice
- Five Color Pulao | Panchranga Pulao
More chickpea recipes:
- Crispy Chickpeas
- Coconut Chickpea Curry
- Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
- Kadala Curry | Black Chickpeas Curry
- Sweet Potato Chickpea Curry
- Chickpea Masala | Easy Chana Masala
- Easy Chickpea Burgers
- Besan Chilla | Besan Cheela | Chickpea Pancakes
- Mysore Pak | Chickpea Fudge
- Chana Chat | Healthy Chickpea Salad
- Easy Vegan Chickpea Korma
- Chicken Chickpea Curry
Ingredients
Fry chickpeas:
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 800 g canned chickpeas drained and rinsed (or 1 ½ cups dried chickpeas, soaked and cooked)
- ¼ teaspoon ground fenugreek fenugreek powder
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- Salt and pepper to taste
Butter chickpeas:
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 cup chopped onions
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic garlic paste
- ½ teaspoon minced ginger ginger paste
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- 50 g butter
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- ½ cup heavy cream thickened cream
- 1 tablespoon yogurt
- ¼ cup milk
- 8-10 cashew nuts soaked in hot water for 10 minutes and ground to a smooth paste
- ¼ cup coriander cilantro leaves
- Chopped coriander cilantro leaves, to garnish
Instructions
Fry chickpeas:
- Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add chickpeas. Sprinkle with ground fenugreek and garam masala. Season with salt and pepper.
- Stir fry 3-4 minutes or until the chickpeas start to brown. Remove from pan. Set aside.
Butter chickpeas:
- To the same pan, add 1 tablespoon oil. Once hot, add chopped onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 2-3 minutes or until onions are soft and translucent.
- Add garlic and ginger. Saute, stirring, for 1 minute or until fragrant.Add ground cumin, garam masala, red chili powder, butter and lemon juice. Sauté, stirring, for 1 minute or until aromatic.
- Add tomato paste, cream, yogurt and milk. Stir to combine. Bring to the boil. Simmer for 2-3 minutes.
- Add chickpeas and ground cashews (if using). Stir to combine.
- Simmer for another 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat.Garnish with coriander (cilantro) leaves.
MAKE IN INSTANT POT:
- Turn on instant pot. Select sauté mode. Add oil and fry chickpeas. Remove it from the pot.
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil and continue with the steps for making butter chickpeas. After step 4, close the lid. Select manual (pressure cooker) mode, and cook on high for 5 minutes. (If you’re using dried chickpeas, make sure you soak them overnight and cook them halfway through prior to frying the chickpeas)
MAKE IN SLOW COOKER:
- After step 3, transfer the mixture to the slow cooker. Add fried chickpeas and coriander (cilantro) leaves. Stir to combine. Cover with lid, and cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 6-8 hours.
Video
Notes
- If you are using dried chickpeas, soak them overnight or at least 6 hours and cook them separately before frying.Reserve some fried chickpeas for garnishing if you like
- Freeze remaining cream for later use - pour the cream into ice cube trays, and when set, store them in ziplock bags to save space. Remember only heavy or thickened cream can be frozen. Thaw the cubes in refrigerator overnight.
- You can skip the “frying” step, and add cooked chickpeas directly to the curry. But, I really love the slight crunchy texture of fried chickpeas.
Nutrition
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