Coconut Curry Chickpeas With Pumpkin and Lime

By Melissa Clark

Total Time: 30 minutes
Rating: 5(9,918)
Notes: Read community notes

Canned pumpkin purée and coconut milk, heavily seasoned with curry spices and lots of fresh lime juice, make a sweet-sharp sauce for chickpeas. It’s a rich, creamy curry that you can eat on its own, or serve over rice or couscous. If you want to incorporate more vegetables, stir in some spinach, baby kale or sliced green beans during the last few minutes of cooking, letting them soften in the sauce.

Featured in: A Love Letter to Canned Food

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings

3tablespoons neutral oil, such as sunflower or canola
1large onion, chopped
2jalapeños, seeded or not, thinly sliced
1bay leaf
1knob ginger (about 1 inch), minced
4garlic cloves, minced
1½teaspoons garam masala
1teaspoon ground cumin
½teaspoon ground turmeric
2(15-ounce) cans chickpeas, rinsed
1(13.5-ounce) can coconut milk (do not use light coconut milk)
1(13.5-ounce) can pumpkin purée
1½teaspoons fine sea salt, more as needed
¾cup chopped cilantro, more for serving
2 to 3tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus wedges for serving
Cooked rice or couscous, for serving (optional)

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in onion, jalapeño and bay leaf. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is golden on the edges, about 8 minutes.
Step 2
Add ginger and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in garam masala, cumin and turmeric; cook for an additional 30 seconds.
Step 3
Stir in chickpeas, coconut milk, pumpkin, ½ cup water and 1½ teaspoons salt. Bring to a simmer and continue to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, to let the flavors meld. (Add more water if it starts to look too thick.) Stir in cilantro and lime juice to taste. Taste and add more salt if necessary.
Step 4
Serve over rice or couscous if you like, and top with more cilantro and lime wedges on the side.

Ratings

5 out of 5

9,918 user ratings

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Bryan3 years ago

This recipe is WOW! So many directions that you can take this or leave it as it is. For most curries I usually add a tablespoon of Tamari for a bit more depth. To help thicken this one I add about a 1/3 cup of red lentils. A tip I learned from an Indian chef. When adding spices to a curry, put your dry spices in a bowl and add hot water from the kettle to make a slurry. Then add to the pan or pot. It reduces the chance of scorching the spices in the hot pan which can make it taste bitter.

Amy4 years ago

Great and easy but at least in my kitchen very very soupy at the suggested simmer time of 10 minutes. After 45minutes to an hour it looked just like the picture and was delicious, thick, rich and altogether great. Only change I made was using dry Aleppo pepper for jalapeño since I didn’t have jalapeños

Kaitlyn4 years ago

I used light coconut milk, but no water and it turned out rich and creamy with no extra simmering time. I also added in a zucchini and extra garam masala and tumeric (tasted a little bland to me without it). Great with those additions!

Gabriela4 years ago

I added carrots, zucchini, red pepper, snap peas

Nic4 years ago

This recipe was absolutely delicious- my partner and I couldn't stop talking all night about how the flavors worked so well together. It was very easy- though took us about 1 hour total to make as we let it simmer on the stove for nearly 30 minutes to bring it to a thicker, richer consistency. I'll definitely be making this one again.

KSE4 years ago

I tried this with light coconut milk despite the warning, and thought it turned out fine—though doubtless not as rich as with the full-fat stuff. Made with cooking spray in a cast iron pan, only 3 WW points for 4 servings, for those of us who (sigh) have to care about such things. Very mild, so we ate with a lot of hot sauce.

Julie4 years ago

Delicious! Added 1 tsp of Kashmiri chili powder and an 8 oz bag of spinach, served over basmati rice.

Frances Ryan4 years ago

The next time I make I will use a cast iron dutch oven instead of a skillet. Too much volume for a the skillet.

Noah4 years ago

Followed the recipe exactly, and it turned out amazing! Everyone loved it. The pumpkin was not too strong or out of place, and the whole dish worked very well together. Next time I’m going to add in some tofu.

Julia4 years ago

I added mushrooms, cashews, and kale and it was fantastic!

MK4 years ago

The key after topping off with cilantro and lime juice is to let the dish simmer and mellow out those flavors, which are initially very strong and don’t fit well with the rest of the dish.

Lisa4 years ago

I pureed it a bit with an immersion blender at the end of the cooking time. It thickened up nicely and it still had a lot of whole chickpeas in it. Topped it with some pepitas I had on hand. Flavorful and easy!

Terry4 years ago

What would happen if you used light coconut milk? I'm guessing nothing except it would be less rich and less calories.

Vikki4 years ago

I didn't add the water (after reading some comments that it didn't turn out thick enough) and had to sub chili flakes for the jalapeno for the first time. Added one sliced carrot, 1/4 red pepper diced and a small handful of green beans. Had time to let it simmer for longer while waiting on the brown basmati rice to accompany it. The lime and cilantro at the end really brighten it up. Delicious - will add this to the rotation!

Richard4 years ago

This is a wonderful recipe, but coconut milk is brimming with saturated fat and calories. What's the problem with with using "lite" coconut milk?

Kris1 day ago

Good flavor for a nice curry dish. Doubled the spices with added curry powder and some peppers and mushrooms. Also added some chicken for a protein. Topped it with chopped cashews and shredded coconut. Will make again with maybe more veggies

bryan6 days ago

Double the spices, add an extra jalapeño, and skip the water!

CookingSherry1 week ago

When I try a new recipe I do try to follow it as closely as possible, but this time it wasn't possible. I have carrots but no pumpkin, basil but no cilantro, in my garden. So I used the Instant pot to cook the carrots to softness and pureed them in the blender and used 2 kinds of basil: Italian and Thai. I liked the flavor but seemed to be missing something, so I added 1T of fish sauce, and some garlic salt. Much better. I'll make this again, it was very easy and ready for unexpected company.

annabel1 week ago

This is immediately improved with the addition of MSG

Aimee2 weeks ago

Used chilli flakes as left the jalapeño at the supermarket. Made a pumpkin and cauliflower purée from roasted pumpkin and cauliflower. Added a bit of Moroccan seasoning and more garam masala! Very easily could’ve added spinach in for even more veggies.

Elizabeth1 month ago

Delicious. Kids loved it. Used reduced fat coconut milk and simmered it longer to concentrate sauce. It did need an extra teaspoon of garam masala and cumin at the end. Lime juice and lots of chopped cilantro is key. Used dried -not canned - chickpeas. Otherwise would have been too mushy. Adding this one to the rotation.

Nbennison1 month ago

This is a delicious vegan meal. I have the soapy cilantro gene, so I omitted the cilantro and the results were still delicious.

Katy1 month ago

Very tasty! I only used 2 Tbsp oil and didn't miss the third. Also took a beat from the wise Bryan and added 1/3 cup red lentils to the recipe while simmering to thicken it up. I did feel like there was plenty of sodium so did not add the extra soy sauce. And I threw in a bunch of baby spinach leaves in the last five minutes to add some nutrients. Chef's kiss.

Moira in Altadena1 month ago

Second time making this dish I again doubled the spices and omitted jalepño. Did not feel like paying 4$ for can of pumpkin so I bought fresh butternut and roasted it. Also no good cilantro in stock, used basil. And it was still good but I think I prefer pumpkin and cilantro. Either that or I was so hungry I didn’t let it cool enough. Tastes best warm, not steaming hot.

Jane1 month ago

Made at the Peter’s. Pickled jalepenos. Not as flavorful as I expected but yummy and filling. Added kale.

lilyinHawaii1 month ago

I subbed one can of chickpeas with a pound of ground turkey for a meat version. Followed everything else as written. My fam loved it.

ACF2 months ago

This one was a miss for me. Very bland. Faced with a large pan of tastelessness I added more of the spices coriander and cinnamon, tomato, spinach and served with garlic cucumber yoghurt. But probably easier just to make another recipe.

LD Shook2 months ago

The family enjoyed this, though I found the color off-putting. Not sure how to get past that?

Gol2 months ago

I liked it but kids didnt

Moira in Altadena2 months ago

I served over quinoa, which adds a lot of protein and soaks up all the sauce so it didn’t have to simmer forever. Also skipped hot peppers and probably doubled most the spices—never measure—but one teaspoon doesn’t seem like an Indian dish. You can use several tablespoons of things like cumin and tumeric, I believe. It was—Yum!

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