My husband and I were visiting Santa Monica, CA a couple months ago. Santa Monica is not only a beautiful place to visit but it also has some amazing restaurants. My husband found a place for us for dinner called Cassia. It is part of the restaurant group that includes one of my favorite restaurants in Santa Monica, Rustic Canyon. Add it to your must eat list. It is very farm-to-table.
Cassia on the other hand is an Asian fusion restaurant. Before we get into the food, I have to tell you about the outdoor patio. It is so inviting with the greenery and lights. Also when we were visiting it was cool at night so there were blankets on the back of each chair for you to use. Talk about attention to detail. Also the view was really good too. 🙂
Ok so back to the food. We started with the curry chickpeas with naan. Oh my gracious alive, it was so good. I wanted to dive into the bowl of the creamy curry and chickpeas. The flavors were bold and the warm creamy curry was soothing to my soul. I won’t lie. We did everything but lick the bowl clean.
When you have a dish that good. It makes you want to recreate it so you can have it again and again. So I did just that. I put my own spin on it though using Southern spices. Do not be intimidated by the long list of spices in the recipe. There are spices that you probably already have in your spice cabinet. This dish is the perfect appetizer because it is easy to make, beautiful presentation and delicious. It is also dairy-free and vegan.
Southern Spiced Coconut Chickpeas
Print RecipeIngredients
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- ¼ cup minced sweet onion
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon ground thyme
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- Pinch ground cinnamon
- 1 ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained
- 1 (13.5-ounce) can coconut milk
- 2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 naan bread
- Fresh cilantro, garnish
- Fresh chives, garnish
- 2 tablespoons canned coconut milk
Instructions
In a medium nonstick sauté pan, add the olive oil. Heat the pan over medium. Add the minced onion and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and add all the spices except the salt. Stir. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add the salt, chickpeas and coconut milk. Stir. Cook over a slight simmer on medium-low to medium heat for 20 minutes or until the sauce is slightly thickened.
Stir in the lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce.
Transfer the warm spiced coconut chickpeas to a serving bowl.
Heat an oven to broil on high. Place the naan on a baking sheet. Cook until lightly toasted and warm, 1 to 2 minutes.
Garnish the chickpeas with cilantro leaves and a dollop of coconut milk. Serve with toasted warm naan. Top with the cilantro and chives.
2 Comments
Enni
August 28, 2019 at 8:53 pmI hope I could try this at home. Seems delicious
Recipes & Tips for Cooking with Pantry Staple Chickpeas (Pulses) – Whitney Miller
April 2, 2020 at 6:19 pm[…] ginger. I toasted the spices in a pan with chopped onion and garlic. My Southern Spiced Coconut Chickpeas “curry” comes together with the addition of canned coconut milk, another pantry staple and […]