This chickpea curry is hiding a secret: it’s full of anti-inflammatory foods! It’s a delicious healthy dinner recipe with tart cherry health benefits.
This vegan chickpea curry was created in partnership with Cherry Marketing Institute. All opinions are our own.
An incredible thing about food is it can be used as medicine. That is, some illnesses can be reversed just by changing the way you eat. Alex and I know people who have treated the symptoms of endometriosis by eating a plant-based diet, and others who have reversed the onset of Type 2 diabetes. In fact, there’s a whole practice called food as medicine. Hospitals are even starting to prescribe foods in pharmacies (how cool is that?). Alex and I are fascinated by food as medicine. While we’re not doctors, as recipe developers we get to take the foods prescribed by physicians and turn them into recipes. And having a theme for a recipe gets our creative juices flowing even more! Like for this vegan chickpea curry with tart cherries — keep reading for the recipe!
Tart cherry health benefits
This chickpea curry looks innocent enough, but it’s actually hiding a secret theme: it’s full of anti-inflammatory foods. Chronic inflammation can lead to diseases like arthritis, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and even cancer. The encouraging thing is, there are lots of foods that can help to offset inflammation. We created this chickpea curry to be an anti-inflammatory powerhouse, at the same time being packed with flavor. Instead of takeout or a processed dinner, try this curry instead! The recipe contains the following anti-inflammatory foods:
- Montmorency tart cherries, scientifically shown to reduce inflammation
- Colorful fruits and vegetables like tomatoes and kale
- Anti-inflammatory herbs and spices including turmeric and ginger, which increase the antioxidant capacity of fruits and vegetables
- Alliums like onions and crucifers like kale
- Vegetable protein from Garbanzo beans
- Whole grains like brown rice
- Extra-virgin olive oil as the main cooking oil
More with tart cherries: Farro Salad with Feta & Cherries
How to make this vegan chickpea curry recipe
This vegan chickpea curry recipe is a delicious vegan dinner recipe that’s very simple to make. The only ingredient prep is chopping onion and garlic, and roughly chopping dried tart cherries. After that, the cooking is a breeze: simply saute the onion and garlic, add the spices, tomatoes and coconut milk, and then add the vegetables and cherries and simmer. (If you need a sub for coconut milk, head to our substitutes for coconut milk in curry.)
While you’re making this vegan chickpea curry, cook the brown rice alongside. Cooking the rice in a rice cooker or Instant Pot can be helpful to “set and forget” while you’re making the curry recipe.
Related: Tomato Coconut Cauliflower Curry
Looking for vegan recipes?
Are you looking for vegan dinner recipes? Here are a few of our favorite simple dinner vegan recipes:
- Very Veggie Vegan Pizza
- Savory Vegan Potpie with Sage Crust
- Creamy Vegan Pasta Marinara
- Moroccan Spiced Cauliflower Soup
- “Verde” Lentil Vegan Tacos
- “Can’t Believe It’s Vegan” Spaghetti & Meatballs
- The Best Loaded Vegan Nachos
- Easy Vegan Korean Ramen
- Vegan Italian Pasta Salad
- Quick Coconut Lentil Curry
This recipe is…
This vegan chickpea curry is vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free, and gluten-free.
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Chickpea Curry with Tart Cherries
(3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 to 6 servings
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Pin RecipeDescription
This chickpea curry is hiding a secret: it’s full of anti-inflammatory foods! It’s a delicious healthy dinner recipe with tart cherry health benefits.
Ingredients
See the Chickpea Curry recipe on ChooseCherries.com.
Instructions
See the Chickpea Curry recipe on ChooseCherries.com.
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Keywords: Curry, Vegetable Curry, Anti-Inflammatory, Vegan, Curry Recipes, Vegetarian, Gluten Free, Cherries
About the Authors
Sonja Overhiser
Cookbook Author and writer
Sonja Overhiser is author of Pretty Simple Cooking, named one of the best healthy cookbooks of 2018. She’s host of the food podcast Small Bites and founder of the food blog A Couple Cooks. Featured from the TODAY Show to Bon Appetit, Sonja seeks to inspire adventurous eating to make the world a better place one bite at a time.
Alex Overhiser
Cookbook Author and photographer
Alex Overhiser is an acclaimed food photographer and author based in Indianapolis. He’s host of the food podcast Small Bites and founder of the recipe website A Couple Cooks. Featured from the TODAY Show to Bon Appetit, Alex is author of Pretty Simple Cooking, named one of the best vegetarian cookbooks by Epicurious.
4 Comments
Katie @ Whole Nourishment
September 13, 2017 at 3:07 amCurry is one of my favorite dishes both because it’s delicious (obvi) and because of its health benefits as you mentioned. I’ve added raisins before but have never thought to add dried cherries. Such a great idea! Love the simplicity of your recipe as well.
MEAl5
September 14, 2017 at 11:08 pmGreat recipes, it seem healthy!
Yumvilla
October 27, 2017 at 5:27 amThese look amazing. Can’t wait to try them – thanks!
Judy
January 20, 2018 at 5:15 pmJust made this curry and it was delish. Thank you!