Vegan Chickpea Curry

We LOVE curry at our house!  It's warm and comforting and I just love the spices and garlic.  This is a super simple recipe that I adapted from "Eating Well" magazine.  We enjoyed this over Jasmine rice, but you could use any kind of rice or quinoa.  I also served Garlic Nann on the side (my favorite).

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion chopped
• 6 gloves garlic
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 2 tsp minced fresh ginger
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 6oz can tomato paste
• 14oz coconut milk
• 2 15oz cans of chick peas
• squeeze of lemon juice
• Chopped cilantro for topping

Directions:

• Heat olive oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat.  Cook onions until lightly golden, stirring frequently, approximately 2-3 minutes.
• Add garlic, garam masala, ginger, cumin, coriander, half of the salt, stir and cook for 1 minute.
• Add tomato paste and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
• Stir in the coconut milk and bring to a simmer.  Stir frequently and cook until slightly thickened., about 4-5 minutes.
• Remove sauce from the heat.
• Blend sauce in an immersion blender or Vitamix, until smooth.  If you don't have anything like this, don't worry!  The sauce will still turn out delicious.
• Return the sauce to the pan, add chick peas and squeeze of lemon.  Stir until warmed.
• Pour over rice and top with cilantro.  You're done!

I added some vegan meatballs I found at Aldi, but this could be eaten without them as well.  Let me know if you try this recipe and how you like it!

Emily XXOO