Chickpea Korma

This is a satisfying chick pea dish in a rich creamy yogurt sauce. Many Korma recipes call for grinding whole nuts (cashews or almonds) - I found using Trader Joe's creamy Almond Butter is out of this world! I use Besan (a ground chick pea flour called Gram flour - found in Indian groceries) to blend with the yogurt to keep it from curdling - WARNING without Besan (or maybe wheat flour - haven't tried yet), the yogurt will curdle if boiled. This is a trick in Indian cooking well worth learning to make creamy yogurt-based sauces. Go find some Besan!

If you have no fenugreek powder - go get some too! But if not - use your favorite curry powder or masala. In this picture I used about 1/3 of black chick peas for contrast - but this would work just fine with regular yellow chick peas alone.

1 onion, finely diced
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 jalapeño pepper, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup Greek yogurt
1 Tbsp Besan (Gram flour – made from chick peas)
1/3 cup smooth almond butter
1 cup coconut milk
1 tsp fenugreek powder
2 cans chickpeas, drained

In a medium pot, sauté the onions and cumin seeds in a bit of Canola oil until the onions begin to caramelize, about 8-10 minutes. Add the garlic and jalapeno and continue cooking another 3-5 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together the yogurt and the Besan in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the almond butter and the coconut milk and fenugreek. Tip the almond butter mixture and the yogurt into the pot with the onions. Mix well and bring to a simmer. Add the chickpeas and allow to simmer for 15 minutes. Salt to taste, and add water as needed to adjust sauce to desired consistency.