Chickpea Cashew Curry

I was really inspired to make Pithy & Cleaver’s Chana Masala today. I inventoried the spice cabinet and headed over to Green Aisle Grocery for supplies. Luckily they had everything I need other than plain yogurt. I figured the yogurt’s main function was to lend creaminess to the dish, so plan B was to substitute cream, but the store had sold out and my own aging carton turned out to be spoiled.

I can just leave it out, I reasoned with myself. Aren’t I about to New Year’s resolve to make a vegan dinner one night each week? But the prospect felt sad. I love a creamy Indian dish. I started day dreaming about creamy Indian dishes and I realized that many of them are in fact based on cashews. Eureka!

I have heard that you need a fancy Vitamix blender to make a smooth cashew cream. Supposedly, if you have one, you soak your raw cashews overnight, drain them, cover them with fresh water, and blend them until they are smooth like cream. I have a decent Waring blender and good raw cashews so I decided to give it a go. Of course, I didn’t have a night to soak them, so I put them in a small saucepan, covered them with water, brought them to a boil, and let them soak for about an hour. My good old blender did the job just fine. I sense more creamy vegan dishes on the horizon.

What I have on my hands now is pretty different from my inspiration, but pretty awesome too. And vegan!

Chickpea Cashew Curry

Serves 6

3 whole star anise

3 cinnamon sticks

1 teaspoon whole cloves

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

5 cardamom pods

15 black peppercorns

1/4 cup canola oil

3 large onions, quartered and thinly sliced

1 tablespoon curry powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight, or as directed above, and drained

1 jalapeno, seeds and all, chopped

1 teaspoon garam masala

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 1/4 cups water

1 teaspoon minced ginger

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 cups cooked or canned chick peas (if you make them from dried, and I think you should, reserve the cooking liquid.)

Pour the oil into a Dutch oven placed over low heat. Add the star anise, cinnamon sticks, cloves, mustard seeds, cardamom pods, and peppercorns. Cook the spices in the oil, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes. Remove the spices with a slotted spoon. (Don’t worry about the mustard seeds.) Their work here is done.

Add the onions, curry powder, salt, and sugar to the spice-perfumed oil and increase the heat to medium, stirring occasionally, until they are totally softened and caramelized. This takes at least an hour, but the slower, lower, and longer the better. Here they are, cooking and softening patiently:

(I never was able to take them all the way due to time constraints.)

Meanwhile, add the cashews, jalapeno, garam masala, tomato paste, and water to a blender, and blend until smooth and creamy. Set aside. It looks so creamy it’s hard to believe it’s dairy free:

When the onions are caramelized, add the ginger and garlic and stir to combine, until they are fragrant, about 2 minutes. Now add the chickpeas, the cashew sauce, and 3/4 cups of the chickpea cooking liquid or water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer. Simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes. Serve over rice.