Protein & fiber packed delicious curry made with black chickpeas and tempeh along with onion, tomatoes and few spices that is extremely comforting.
Beans are great source of fiber. Many think that beans are source of protein. I believe beans are source of fiber and carbs more than protein. As a vegetarian lentils and beans are one of my most consumed foods. But it does lack that much needed protein. So to balance any beans/lentils dish out, I love adding tempeh to them. Especially large beans and lentils like chickpeas, split chickpeas lentils, black eyes peas, kidney beans etc. The reason being, when you crumble tempeh into smaller pieces they end up being similar size as the beans/lentils mentioned above.
The size, shape, texture and taste of beans and tempeh go so well with each other. Which is the reason I almost alway mix these 2 to make protein and fiber packed dish. This black chickpeas also known as kala chana and crumbled tempeh make a great pair for an outstanding plant based well balanced dish. This curry is expremtly flavorfull and very well balanced. I personally like to eat it like stew while my husband pairs it with Jeera Rice and side of Tzatziki (recipe is part of linked blog).
There is a misconception of Indian vegetarian food being loaded with carbs and fats. And unfortunately that could lead to a true statement if you are not being mindful of how you cook it. Small tweak and tricks along with smart sides makes such Indian vegetarian meals once of the most powerful and well balanced meals of all time! And if you are reading this right now, you have found the right place for such amazing recipes.
I hope you try out this Black Chickpeas & Tempeh Curry along with many of my other balanced recipes and find them helpful. If you enjoy making/eating this comforting dish, please leave me a comment below or tag me on Instagram @myvegetarianroots. I would love to get your feedback on my recipes!
Happy & Healthy Eating!
Black Chickpeas & Tempeh Curry
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 1 cup Dry Black Chickpeas (Kala Chana) heaping cup, leads to 220 gm (5 servings of black chickpeas)
- 8 oz Tempeh crumbled & boiled in salted water for 5 min
- 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
- 4 Whole Cloves
- 4 Whole Peppercorns
- ½ Cinnamon Stick
- 1 Dry Bay Leaf
- 1 Whole Dry Red Chili
- 2 tbsp Avocado Oil
- 1 cup Chopped Onion
- ½ Chopped Jalapeno
- 2 tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste
- 1 cup Chopped Tomato
- 2 tbsp Tomato Paste
- 2 tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Cumin Coriander Powder
- ½ tsp Kashmiri Red Chili Powder less if using spicy red chili powder
- ½ tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1¼ tsp Chana Masala
- 1 tsp Garam Masala
- 3 cup Water
- â…“ cup Finely Chopped Cilantro
Instructions
- Wash and soak black chickpeas (kala chana) for 6-7 hours.
- Before you start making the curry, crumble tempeh with your fingers and boil in water with 1 tsp of salt. Once done, drain it and keep it side. This helps remove the bitterness from tempeh.
- Put Instant Pot on saute mode. Add avocado oil with cumin seeds, cloves, peppercorn, cinnamon stick, whole dry red chili and bay leaf.
- Once cumin seeds start to deepen in color and releases aroma, add in chopped onion & jalapeno, ginger garlic paste and 1 tsp of salt. Mix well and saute until onion starts to translucent.
- Add in chopped tomato and tomato paste. Mix well then add in other dry spiced listed above. Mix well and cook for a minute or so.
- Add in boiled tempeh and soaked black chickpeas, without any water. Mix well.
- Then add in 3 cups of water, keep IP on saute mode until the water starts to simmer.
- Once water is simmering, close the IP, seal the valve and set IP on high pressure for 30 minutes. If black chickpeas were not soaked, set IP on high pressure for 45 min.
- Once done, let the pressure release naturally for at least 10 min. You can release rest of the pressure either manually or naturally. If chickpeas were not soaked, let all the pressure release naturally.
- Once IP valse is released, open the lid and mush some chickpeas in the IP with the help of spatula. This will help thicken the curry.
- Garnish it with chopped cilantro and add in squeeze of lime/lemon. Enjoy with roti/naan/paratha/jeera rice or simply eat like stew. Greek yogurt tzatziki and simple onion tomato cucumber salad pairs well with this curry.
