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The creamiest, easiest, Summer Coconut Chickpea Curry with Rice and Fried Halloumi. Make this curry with whatever produce you have on hand. I use a mix of sweet corn, zucchini, coconut milk, creamy tahini, lemon, plenty of curry powder, and cayenne for some heat. Serve over steamed rice and top with fried halloumi cheese and crispy chickpeas. This dish is layered with flavor and texture, and completely delicious. All you need for this recipe are pantry ingredients, garden veggies, and less than 45 minutes.
Starting the week off with a super healthy, meatless Monday recipe that’s filling, summery, and delicious. I know that’s a lot to live up to, but this recipe does!
After a 4 day weekend, I could not think of a better recipe to share. If you spent the weekend like my family, you were outside, grilling, sipping on cocktails, and eating plenty of delicious…authentic Costa Rican dishes. Ok, so maybe you didn’t spend your long holiday quite the way we did. You may have swapped the Costa Rican dishes for BBQ, corn, potatoes, and hopefully plenty of ice cream too.
That’s all great, but today’s recipe is a little summer “reset”. Don’t worry though, it’s so good, and actually super comforting as well. Enter in this delicious summer curry that’s (almost) vegan, super luscious, creamy, full of garden produce, easy, and all around healthy.
Here’s the details.
This curry is made almost entirely in ONE pot and comes together really fast.
Start by crisping up some chickpeas. Next, you’ll add in all the major flavors…shallots, garlic, and plenty of ginger. Now, toss in whatever produce you have on hand. For me, that meant zucchini, corn, bell peppers, eggplant, and cherry tomatoes. But just about any type of produce would be great.
Next to go in are the creamy ingredients, coconut milk and tahini…the key to this curry. Coconut milk is pretty common in most curry dishes, but tahini is a little different. Honestly, I added this in on a whim. The thought of super creamy and nutty tahini just sounded really delicious. I wasn’t quite sure how it would actually be though. It ended up creating the creamiest, heartiest, vegetarian curry, beyond good and different too.
If you don’t have tahini on hand, you could also use creamy peanut butter, cashew butter, or almond butter. Though the peanut butter will add a little different flavor, it still will be delicious.
Simmer the curry for a few minutes to allow all the flavors to mend together. While that’s happening, work on the finishing touches.
Pan-fry some Halloumi cheese. I know, know. Halloumi cheese is Greek, curry is Indian. Yes, I am mixing cuisines. And yes, I know some of you may not be into this. But I’m all about it…if it’s good, it’s good, you know?
Halloumi is a salty grilling cheese commonly used in Mediterranean cooking. It’s so good when pan-fried and I love incorporating it into dishes like vegetarian tacos, peanut noodles, extra summery salads, and now summer curries! It adds great flavor and texture. It’s what makes this curry really stand out and be just a touch better than others.
And honestly, what’s better than pan-fried cheese? Not much.
I like to serve the curry over steamed rice and top with fresh cilantro and really thinly sliced cucumbers.
So much color. So much flavor. Incredibly healthy. And so, so, SO GOOD!
Oh, and fast and easy too.
I mean, come on, you gotta agree…Best Monday Recipe!
If you make this summer coconut chickpea curry with rice and fried halloumi, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Watch the How To Video:
Summer Coconut Chickpea Curry with Rice and Fried Halloumi.
Servings: 4 4
Calories Per Serving: 1225 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup + 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 can (14 ounce) chickpeas, drained
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 2 zucchini, or summer squash, diced
- 2 ears sweet corn, kernels removed from the cob
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 1 inch fresh ginger, grated
- 2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
- 1 1/2 tablespoons yellow curry powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, more or less to taste
- 1 can (14 ounce) coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons tahini (sesame seed paste)
- juice and zest from 1/2 a lemon
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped (basil can be used)
- 8 ounces Halloumi cheese, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces (omit if vegan)
- 2 cups cooked basmati rice
- sesame seeds, green onions, and Persian cucumbers, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- 1. Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. When the oil shimmers, add the chickpeas and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally until the chickpeas begin to crisp, about 5 minutes. Carefully remove 1/2 cup of chickpeas and reserve for topping, only if desired. 2. To the remaining chickpeas, add the zucchini, corn, shallot, garlic, and ginger. Season with salt and pepper. Cook the veggies another 5-10 minutes or until they just begin to soften.3. Stir in the curry powder and cayenne and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the coconut milk, 1/3-1/2 cup water, and the tahini. Stir to combine, bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, cook 5-10 minutes or until the sauce thickens slightly. If the sauce thickens too much, add additional water to thin. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice and zest, and cilantro.4. Meanwhile, cook the halloumi. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When the oil shimmers, add the halloumi and cook until golden, about 3 minutes per side. Remove from skillet. 5. To serve, divide the rice among bowls and spoon the curry overtop. Top with halloumi, the reserved chickpeas, and cucumbers. Enjoy!
This post was originally published on July 8, 2019
Where do you find Halloumi cheese? I can’t find it and I want to try it so bad! Love all your food, your flavors are always amazing!
Hi! I find it at my local grocery store, but usually whole foods has it because they have a good variety of cheeses. I hope this helps! I hope you love this recipe! xTieghan
I rarely leave comments on recipes. I even more rarely make a recipe multiple times. But this recipe is a winner. Quick, easy, flexible, and delicious.
I am so glad this turned out so well for you Debra! Thank you! xTieghan
This was SO good. My husband said it was perhaps the best thing I’ve ever cooked.
That is so amazing!! Thank you for trying this! xTieghan
what can i use instead of the tahini (sesame seed paste)? Looking forward to try this curry.
Hi Livia! You can use an equal amount of almond or casher butter OR you can simply just omit the tahini from the recipe. You don’t NEED it. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan ???
Making this tonight, and am super stoked to try it! One question though – can life coconut milk be used?
Hi Erin! Light coconut milk will be great. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
Making this recipe tonight after a stellar review from a friend. Looks so different and so good…but there is no way it’s only 530 calories. When entering the ingredients into MyFitnessPal it comes out closing to 800-900 calories a serving, depending on what brands you use, of course. But a half cup of olive oil alone is almost 1000 calories!
We’re cutting the oil in half and making it 5 servings and it’s still not 540 calories a serving.
Hi Allison! I will look into this. Thank you for letting me know! xTieghan
Made this tonight and it was TO DIE FOR!! My 14 year old daughter loved it, which I knew she would, but she had her doubts when I said “curry” for dinner. LOL It has a mild sweetness to it (the corn?) the kids will love. I love the different textures and creaminess with rice OMG – I’m about to go back for thirds!! I skipped the cheese (we’re non-dairy) and made Instant pot chicken breasts instead – cooked those in similar spices so they would marry well. Had the instant pot going while I made the curry, then put them together. I’m sure there is an Instant pot whiz out there who has figure out how to make this whole thing in an InstantPot, but I loved being able to control the cooking time of the veg so they had a bit of crunch. And it’s so fast and easy! You’re amazing! This is going to be a regular in our house.
I am so glad you both loved this recipe!! Thank you so much for trying it! xTieghan
I made this last night, added mushrooms and served it with fresh feta and it was excellent! Different way to eat chickpeas, thanks Tieghan!
Yes! So glad you loved this one, Anaïs! xTieghan
Very yummy and creamy but I needed way more cayenne so added it as needed. I didn’t have ginger and I think that’s what was missing. Thanks for another great dinner.
Thank you Camille! I hope you love it more with some ginger! xTieghan
I’ve made this recipe twice already because it is so good! I added some fish sauce, brown sugar, and extra lemon juice to taste at the end, which gives the flavor some extra depth. Will be making frequently 🙂
So awesome to hear that Hannah! Thank you for trying this one! xTieghan
I never comment on recipes; however, this was one of the best indian recipes I’ve ever made. It was so flavorful & fresh. We followed the recipe except added a bit of tandori seasoning that we had in the cupboard. Super filling, but healthy. Also, the only effort was chopping the veggies – the rest just flew together super quickly in the pan.
So glad you let me know how this turned out for you Alexa! And I am so glad it turned out so well! Thank you! xTieghan
This recipe is really good. Just made it for dinner. I didn’t have Halloumi, but I wanted some extra protein and cooked up some tilapia with it. A very delicious dish indeed.
Ooo love that! Thank you for trying this Rebecca! xTieghan
So delicious and easy yum yum yum. Definitely will make it again.
Thank you so much Alicia! So happy to hear that! xTieghan
Could you offer a substitute for halloumi cheese? I can’t find it anywhere and I see this cheese in several of your recipes.
Hi There! Feta cheese is a great sub for halloumi! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
This dish was SO MUCH FUN TO MAKE. It was my first time experimenting with curry, so i was a bit nervous but oh my, oh my – it was worth it. The summer veggies kept this dish light, especially with the finishing cucumbers. Also HOLY SHEEP/GOAT HALLOUMI!! My eyes & heart & stomach have opened up to love and accept this delicious fried cheese that I didn’t know existed. Thank you for helping me push my chef boundaries in new territories. This one is a keeper.
YES! So glad you had the best time making this and it turned out amazing for you! Thank you so much Johannah! xTieghan