This Wednesday I woke-up and had a mild panic attack. I couldn’t remember what day it was or what I was supposed to do that day. And just to show what a geek I am, I determined it was Wednesday by recalling what I watched the previous night on TV. 🙂 It was Limitless by the way. I never saw the movie, but I am enjoying the show. There was a mini Dexter reunion as Desmond Harrington (aka Quinn) guest-starred for those of you who enjoyed Dexter when he was a serial killer and not a lumberjack. Ummm … spoiler alert. Sorry.
I only watched Dexter the first few years when it was good, but I still have a soft spot for the show. It was the first show I watched when I moved to LA. It was just premiering, so there were so many ads and billboards promoting it. My hotel had Showtime and I didn’t know anyone here, so on my second night in LA, Emeril and I lounged on our slightly lumpy bed and gave it a chance. Interestingly enough, they shot of lot of the Dexter beach scenes near where I live too. Yes, Florida was really LA. It can be confusing sometimes, like when you’re walking around and see New York cabs idling at a curb or Miami Dade Sheriff vehicles blocking a street, and then you realize they are shooting a commercial and CSI Miami.
Actually, one of my favorite things to do while I’m watching a show or movie is to see if I can spot any locations from my hood. And yes, I do regularly see bits and pieces of my neighborhood, which makes me happy since I’m a nerd.
I’m sure you’re wondering what this has to do with pumpkin chickpea curry, and the answer is absolutely nothing. My blog, so I get to ramble about whatever I want. 🙂 With Halloween (also known as MaxE’s least favorite holiday) and Thanksgiving fast approaching, I decided to go on a little pumpkin kick. Now this is big news because I’m not a huge pumpkin fan. I don’t hate it but I don’t love it either.
Normally.
But this curry may have converted me into a pumpkin fan. It also appears that I am on a bit of crockpot kick too, because this dish also takes advantage of my favorite kitchen appliance. What can I say? I love my crockpot.
This is the perfect crockpot meal as it takes mere minutes to combine everything, smells outrageous as it cooks all day and reheats beautifully. I served this with a delicious no-yeast beer flatbread and highly encourage you to do the same. FYI, the bread is unbelievably delicious but doesn’t reheat fabulously in my opinion. You can, however, make a batch (or half a batch), wrap the excess dough in plastic wrap and store it in the fridge, then make flatbread as needed, which is what I did. Easy peasy.
A twist on a classic Indian recipe. The pumpkin adds subtle depth of flavor, and you can adjust the heat to your preferences. It takes mere minutes to assemble in your crockpot and reheats beautifully.
Ingredients
- 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 medium cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- 1 generous cup pumpkin puree
- 1 tablespoon curry powder or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 (15-ounce) can coconut milk
- White rice or brown rice
- Fresh lime wedges
- Cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Lightly spray a 3 quart slow cooker with non-stick spray. Add all ingredients, minus the coconut milk, then cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 5-6 hours.
- Stir in the coconut milk and cook on low for another 30 minutes. The curry will be a bit thin at first, but thickens as it rests. You can also take a potato masher and roughly mash the beans to help thicken the curry, which is what I did. I didn’t puree the beans or try to make it smooth like mashed potatoes, but just gave them a rough mash.
- Serve over rice with cilantro and fresh lime wedges on the side. I don’t like cilantro so I substituted parsley and the fresh lime is an absolute must. I also served this with no-yeast beer flatbread in place of the more traditional naan.
Now this is different. I’ve never tried chickpeas before but as always you make everything sound and look so good.
Thanks for sharing the recipe with us Tanya! Have a great week hun!
Cori
I love chickpeas. They are so buttery and creamy. They are the foundation of hummus. which is one of my favorite dips. They are also very filling and you don’t even miss the meat. Well, at least I didn’t. Your hubby may feel I different. 🙂 Have a great week, Cori!
I am usually not a fan of curry, but you mentioned pumpkin, so… 😉
The weird thing is I’m normally not a huge fan of curry either. So I was a little hesitant when I made it too but it seriously good. Some curries are really strongly flavored and this one wasn’t, plus the beer flatbread didn’t hurt either!