This rich and creamy chickpea and lentil curry is hearty, filling and ready in 20 minutes! A delicious weeknight dinner from storecupboard ingredients.
🍴 Why you will love this recipe
A quick and easy weeknight dinner that's delicious, nutritious, and made from ingredients you probably already have in the cupboard.... what's not to love?!
This delicious chickpea and lentil curry takes just 20 minutes to make and feeds 4 people. A rich tomato sauce is reduced until very intense and thick, then a tin of coconut milk rounds it off into a rich and creamy curry sauce.
This very easy curry freezes well, so is perfect for batch-cooking too. You can adjust the chilli level to make it as mild or spicy as you like.
📝 What you need
Ingredients
Tinned chickpeas are cheap and nutritious, and have a lovely nutty texture. You can use dried chickpeas instead but you will need to soak and pre-cook them first.
Tinned lentils are a quick and easy way to use lentils, which makes this 20-minute curry possible. If you prefer to use dried green lentils you will need to boil them for 15-20 minutes first.
Spices It is your choice whether to use ready-made curry powder (mild, medium or hot as you choose), or a blend of spices. I've suggested the combination I use below, but you can adjust these to your taste.
Coconut milk Use tinned coconut milk (rather than from a carton). Either reduced fat or full-fat will both work well.
👩🏽🍳 How to make your chickpea and lentil curry
For a full, printable recipe with ingredients and detailed instructions, scroll to the bottom of this page 👇🏼 .
Peel and finely slice the onion and fry gently. Slice the pepper and add to the pan along with the garlic, ginger and chilli.
Add the spices, then the chopped tomatoes, chickpeas and lentils.
Simmer until the liquid has bubbled off and the sauce is fairly dry. Add the coconut milk then cook for another 3-4 minutes until thick and creamy. Add the lemon juice and baby spinach then serve.
🔪 Top Tips & FAQs
Adjust the consistency before serving - if it has become too thick, add a splash of water or more lemon juice. If it is very runny, keep simmering until the sauce has thickened.
Adjust the flavours to your own taste - for a milder curry leave out the fresh chillis, and for a hotter one add a pinch of chilli flakes to increase the heat.
Yes, this freezes really well so you can batch-cook and stock up the freezer.
The curry will keep in the fridge for 4-5 days, as long as it is in an airtight container.
You can, but you will have to pre-cook them so this will take much longer than 20 minutes. Dried chickpeas will need to be soaked overnight then cooked for 1.5-2 hours. Dried green lentils will need to be boiled for 15-20 miutes.
🍽 If you liked that...
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📖 Recipe
Chickpea and Lentil Curry
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon rapeseed or sunflower oil
- 1 red onion
- 1 red pepper
- 2 cloves garlic or 1 teaspoon garlic paste
- thumb-sized piece fresh ginger or 2 teaspoon ginger paste
- 1-2 fresh chillis
- spices EITHER 1 teaspoon each of garam masala, ground coriander, ground cumin and turmeric, OR 3 teaspoon curry powder
- 400 g tin chopped tomatoes
- 400 g tin chickpeas
- 400 g tin lentils
- 400 ml tin coconut milk
- 1 lemon
- handful baby spinach
- handful fresh coriander
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large casserole dish or deep frying pan.
- Peel and finely slice the red onion, then fry gently for 2-3 minutes.
- Trim and finely slice the red pepper and add to the pan, along with the garlic, ginger and chilli. Cook for a further 2-3 minutes.
- Add the spices and stir until fully combined.
- Add the tinned tomatoes, then refill the empty tin half way with water (a further 200ml) and add to the pan.
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas and lentils and add to the pan. Season generously with salt and black pepper.
- Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 6-8 minutes until the liquid has reduced and the curry is fairly dry.
- Add the coconut milk and simmer for a further 3-4 minutes until thick and creamy.
- Stir through the lemon juice and baby spinach, and serve sprinkled with chopped coriander.
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Colleen says
This was delicious, I love chick peas but I think the addition of the lentils made it even better. So easy to make too. Thanks for a great recipe, will definitely make again
Kate Ford says
Great to hear, thanks Colleen!
Ali says
Thank you!
So easy to make and sooooo tasty!
Kate Ford says
That's great to hear! Thanks
Mimi says
Pretty yummy and easy to make, I actually have a sore tummy because I ate too big a portion! The four stars instead of five are probably to do with me not getting timing right for putting the coconut milk in so more my fault then recipe fault, despite this it was still really tasty 😋 Thank you, great recipe and still loads left for the freezer.
Kate Ford says
This is great to hear (apart from the sore tummy!) - thanks Mimi! X
Kirsty says
Absolutely wonderful. Just the recipe as the nights draw in, I batch cook so I don't have to faff, when I get home. Thank you. 💜
Kate Ford says
Great to hear - thanks Kirsty!
Judy says
Best curry recipe, I use dried chili flakes instead of fresh ones. Thanks for the recipe from Canada.
Kate Ford says
Lovely to hear, thanks Judy! X
Philippa says
I think we will make this a regular! It was a delicious creamy subtle curry. So good to just use tinned beans at the end of a long day. We used spices not curry powder. I’m going to batch cook this one next time. Yummy!
Kate Ford says
Great - so good to have the freezer stocked up with tasty meals!
Diane Lloyd-Jones says
First class - we all loved it, from 8 year old to 73 year old. Been requested again already. Thank you.
Kate Ford says
That's great to hear, thanks so much for the feedback Diane x
Tamara says
Extremely tasty, however mine ended up with a soup-like consistency. It did not thicken at all, or very little.
Kate Ford says
Hi Tamara, Sorry to hear this - was the tomato mixture really thick and dry before you added the coconut milk? You do need to keep simmering to bubble off the liquid until it is the right consistency for you - if it is taking too long turn up the heat. Kate
Michelle says
I love lentils and chickpeas in a curry. This is fabulous with rice
Gina Abernathy says
A nice healthy and filling meal with lots of flavor.
Stephanie says
It's been a while since I've had a good curry and this one is perfect! So yummy! It's hearty, filling, and low in calories. You can't go wrong!
Kim says
This is a great weeknight meal! You'd never know it takes so little time to make! I also like that it uses "regular" pantry ingredients.
Tavo says
What a great recipe. I usually don't cook with two pulses, but this recipe caught my attention and was fantastic! I love curries!
Amanda Wren-Grimwood says
I love chickpeas in a curry and this one is so creammy and delicious. Perfect for making a last minute dinner too.