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Coconut chickpea curry with greens with chilli oil
youryum.com/recipes/coconut-chickpea-curry-with-greens-with-chilli-oil · serves 4

A mellow curry with a hot spoonful at the end

The curry is gently spiced and creamy; a cumin chilli oil made in the same pan adds heat without making every mouthful fiery.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian
  • Gluten free
  • Dairy free
Maren Ashby in her kitchen, in a dark apron, looking away from the camera
By Maren Ashby · Writes and tests everything here
Published 3 July 2026
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Coconut chickpea curry with greens and red chilli oil
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Prep
10 min
Cook
25 min
Total
35 min
Serves
4
Per serving
438kcal
Effort
Easy

I like a curry that lets people choose their own heat. The coconut and chickpeas make a soft, savoury base, while a small pan of chilli oil brings colour and a clean burn to whoever wants it. It is kinder than putting three teaspoons of chilli in the pot and hoping everybody at the table has the same tolerance.

Make the oil while the curry rests. Cumin seeds crackle in hot oil, the chilli blooms red, and the whole thing is ready before the rice has finished steaming.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings

Curry

Chilli oil

To finish

Equipment

  • Wide saucepan
  • Small frying pan
  • Microplane or fine grater

Method

  1. Soften the onion

    Heat the neutral oil in a wide saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and salt, and cook for eight minutes. Stir often enough to stop the edges burning, but leave it alone long enough for the bottom layer to turn gold.

    The onion is the sweetness in the curry. If it is still crunchy when the garlic goes in, the finished sauce will taste sharp no matter how long it simmers.

  2. Toast the masala

    Stir in the garlic, ginger, garam masala and turmeric. Cook for two minutes, scraping the base of the pan. The paste should smell fragrant and look darker at the edges. Add a spoonful of stock if it sticks hard.

    Hands stirring ginger garlic and spices through softened onion

  3. Simmer the chickpeas

    Add the chickpeas, coconut milk and stock. Bring to a low simmer and cook uncovered for 15 minutes. Stir once or twice, pressing a few chickpeas with the back of the spoon so the sauce becomes thick enough to cling.

    Keep the heat modest. A rolling boil makes the fat rise to the surface and leaves a thinner curry underneath.

  4. Cook in the greens

    Add the greens. Spinach takes two minutes; sliced chard or kale needs four to six. Stop when the leaves are tender but still show their colour. Turn off the heat and stir in the lime juice.

  5. Make the chilli oil

    Put the olive oil and cumin seeds in a small frying pan over medium heat. When the seeds start to sizzle, take the pan off the heat and stir in the chilli flakes and paprika. The residual heat blooms the spices without scorching them.

    If the oil smokes, start again. Burnt chilli tastes dusty and bitter, and there is no amount of lime that fixes it.

  6. Spoon and season

    Divide the curry between bowls. Drizzle over the chilli oil, keeping some at the edge for people who want less heat, and scatter with coriander. Serve with rice or flatbread while the oil is still bright red.

What's in it

Nutrition, buying and storage notes for the ingredients this recipe leans on.

Yellow onions 89.1 g water Chickpeas 8.9 g protein
Chickpeas coconut milk greens cumin chillies lime and aromatics ready for curry
The chilli oil uses four cupboard ingredients and changes the whole bowl.

Heat at the table is useful

Chilli in the curry gets quieter as it cooks. A teaspoon can taste sharp at the start and barely register after coconut milk and chickpeas have simmered around it. That is fine when you are feeding people who like the same heat. It is less useful when the table has mixed preferences.

A finishing oil keeps the heat on the tongue and the fragrance near the surface. It also gives you a way to use a hotter chilli without making the entire pot difficult to eat. Start with a little. More can always be added.

What the greens should do

Greens are not there to make the curry virtuous. They are there to give the soft sauce a fresh, slightly bitter edge. Spinach melts in quickly, chard keeps a little chew, and kale gives the most structure. Slice any tough leaves thinly so you do not have a strand that drags a whole chickpea out of the bowl.

Once the greens go in, the pan only needs a few minutes. Longer cooking turns their colour grey and makes the sauce taste sweeter than it should.

Nutrition

Per serving, for 4 servings. Estimated from ingredient weights — it moves with the brands and cuts you actually use.

NutrientPer serving
Calories 438 kcal
Protein 14 g
Carbohydrate 47 g
Fibre 11 g
Fat 23 g

Source: Estimated from ingredient weights, USDA FoodData Central

Questions

Can I use curry powder?
Yes. Replace the garam masala with two teaspoons of a mild curry powder, then taste before adding more. Curry powders vary a lot in salt and chilli.
Is the chilli oil essential?
No. The curry is complete without it. Finish with black pepper, lime and coriander if you want a milder bowl.
Can I use coconut cream?
Use half a tin of coconut cream plus 300 ml stock. The sauce will be richer, so add lime carefully at the end.
Can I freeze this curry?
Yes, freeze the curry without the greens or chilli oil for up to two months. Add fresh greens while reheating and make new oil to serve.

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