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Chickpea Cauliflower Coconut Curry (Instant Pot & Stovetop)

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cauliflower chickpea coconut curry

Two things that make me happier than they should: telling cheesy jokes and writing alliterations (specifically, making up alliterative tongue twisters)… and this recipe lets me do both, lol.

The alliteration here is obvious. Chickpea! Cauliflower! Coconut! Curry!

Cooking chickpea cauliflower coconut curry can be chaotic to cook without a cooker, but if you cook the curry in a cooker, the chaos will be under control.

Gosh, I am so embarrassing. 🙈

Say that five times fast. Really, try it. I bet you’ll laugh. I made my 3-year-old, Tony, snort from laughing so hard. He gets me. He also gets it from me.

Now here’s my joke.

So… this recipe calls for a “0” minute cook time in an instant pot (because the cauliflower cooks in the amount of time it takes to reach pressure). That means I can say this recipe takes NO TIME at all to make. LOL. 😂

Listen, I did say cheesy. I really think I’d be awesome at being a cheesy comedian. I guess there’s a reason those don’t exist. I suppose groaning, rolling eyes, and watching someone laugh at their own jokes isn’t that much fun?

I wouldn’t know… ha ha ha.

cauliflower chickpea coconut curry

Good thing my recipes are better than my jokes. I know that’s why you’re here (but um, feel free to tell me otherwise, lol), so let’s talk food.

This cauliflower chickpea coconut curry is a pour and cook recipe. It’s the vegan version of my coconut chicken curry, which is a really popular recipe on my blog. Both of these recipes are similar in flavor and simple to make.

“This was the easiest meal I’ve ever made. It was DELICIOUS. No browning or chopping, just put the ingredients in a pot and cook. This is definitely going to be on repeat.”

Cathy W.

You can make this recipe in an instant pot (my preference) and on the stovetop. I’m including both methods in the recipe card below.

cauliflower chickpea coconut curry

This recipe is the latest in my new chickpea series! I’m sharing my method of cooking dried chickpeas and then sharing recipes that call for chickpeas. You can use canned chickpeas instead if you want.

Other chickpea recipes in this series: mango chickpea curry, chickpea sundal, and spicy tawa chole.

Now you may have noticed that the recipes I just mentioned are Indian recipes. This particular curry is Indian inspired, but not actually Indian. You’re probably not going to find anyone in India or in a traditional Indian household making this type of curry. That’s because it’s made with “curry powder,” which is not technically an Indian spice blend, though it is made up of Indian spices. You can read more about curry powder in this post that I wrote a while back.

I feel the need to tell you this because I don’t want you taking this meal to work and telling everyone this is an authentic Indian dish and then putting your Indian coworker(s) in an awkward position, you know? I’ve got your back.

Anyway, if you’re taking part in my chickpea series and choose to cook chickpeas in advance, you can freeze them for longer storage. Then when you’re ready to cook this curry, take the frozen chickpeas straight from the freezer and put them into the pot. See pic below – that’s a frozen block of chickpeas in there:

cauliflower chickpea coconut curry

What do ya think – ready to eat?

Cook this curried coconut curry (see what I did there?) and you’ll be eating this chickpea curry in no time at all (hehe)!

cauliflower chickpea coconut curry

Chickpea Cauliflower Coconut Curry

cauliflower chickpea coconut curry

Chickpea Cauliflower Coconut Curry

4.88 from 79 reviews
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Ingredients
 

  • 3 cups cooked chickpeas or 2 cans
  • 1 medium to large cauliflower cut into florets
  • 1 14 ounce can coconut milk
  • 2 ½ teaspoons curry powder
  • 1 ½ teaspoons salt to taste
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ⅛ – ¼ teaspoon cayenne adjust to taste
  • Cilantro optional

Instructions
 

Instant Pot:

  • Add all of the ingredients to an instant pot, secure the lid, close the pressure valve and cook for “0” minutes at high pressure (the cauliflower will cook in the amount of time that it takes the instant pot to reach pressure).
  • Quick-release pressure.
  • Mix well and garnish with cilantro if desired.

Stovetop:

  • Add all of the ingredients to a dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat.
  • Cover the pot with a lid and cook for 10 minutes, removing the lid to stir occasionally, until cauliflower is tender.
  • Garnish with cilantro if desired and serve.

Notes

  • If you have frozen chickpeas, you can put them in frozen.
  • This recipe is part of my “chickpea series.” Cook a big batch of dried chickpeas (see this blog post), and try one of my recipes that calls for cooked chickpeas! You can also use canned chickpeas but dried beans taste better.
Did you make this recipe?Tag @myheartbeets on Instagram and hashtag it #myheartbeets!

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Hi, I’m Ashley. Thanks for being here! I truly believe that food brings us closer together. Gather around a table with good food and good people, and you’ll have the ingredients you need to create some happy memories. My hope is that you find recipes here that you can’t wait to share with family and friends.

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Comments

  1. Virginia says

    I’m about to make this recipe, but instead of doing 0 mins, I’m going to do 2 mins and skip the transfer to a Dutch oven …. Or I could do 0 mins and then just turn on a medium saute feature on the ninja Foodi. It’s the transfer to a Dutch oven I don’t want to do lol
    Is there a timing for same pot or a reasoning to transfer to D.O. that can’t be gotten around?
    Thanks!!

    Reply

  4. S. Jones says

    5 stars
    I wasn’t sure if I would like this as I don’t really like curry all that much but it was delicious. The whole family agreed that it is a keeper, especially for meatless Mondays but we also want to try it with chicken added.

    Reply

  6. Amanda M says

    5 stars
    Oh my – it’s delicious. I can’t wait to have it for lunch tomorrow as I think the flavors will have had time to make it even better than tonight’s dinner.
    Thank you

    Reply

  7. VS says

    2 stars
    The instructions were very sketchy for instant pot time. My cauliflower came out as mush. The taste was there but the cauliflower was unrecognizable.
    The instruction should be more specific. What does 0 timing mean????? You should aim at those who may not be proficient at cooking using instant pot.

    Reply

  9. Anita says

    Hello Ashley, I am wanting to try one of your recipes but I can’t see how many people it feeds. I want to feed myself, my daughter and son in law and two grandsons (11 and 14 years). The Chickpea Cauliflower Coconut Curry. Thank you

    Reply

  10. Kaori says

    5 stars
    I just made this for lunch today. It was delicious! I used frozen cauliflower and it was so easy to make. My Indian boyfriend who is very particular about food also loved it! Thank you so much for posting such a great recipe. I tried your chana masala recipe, which was great, too.

    Reply

  11. jen says

    5 stars
    Just made this for dinner… wow!
    Simple, tasty and interesting – and have plenty left for tomorrow too.
    It’s a very well balanced meal.
    Thank you for sharing!

    Reply

  13. Freny Khambata says

    I make this recipe frequently. So easy and goes as an accompaniment with many dishes. Thank you Ashley. Love your blog.

    Reply

  14. Laurie says

    4 stars
    I had very low expectations for this recipe but needed something quick and edible (also had a head of cauliflower that was needing eating). I was pleasantly surprised. I will definitely make this again.

    I cook plant-based for myself and standard American (actually, Canadian) diet for my spouse. Having this recipe in my hip pocket will save me from the “OMG—I have nothing to eat. Better throw together a salad” moment.

    BTW, did the stove top method—spouse’s dinner was in the Instant Pot. We shared udon noodles.

    Reply

  15. Amanda Porter says

    3 stars
    I’m guessing this review won’t be posted as my last one was not – makes me wonder if you ONLY post the 5 star reviews which in turn makes me skeptical about trying another recipe of yours….. Anyway, I made this recipe using Goya canned chickpeas and the dish was WAY to salty, and I love salt – I also used 1/4t of cayenne which should have offset the saltiness. The only saving grace was serving it over unseasoned rice – by itself it was not good enough to serve to anyone but with the rice it was edible. The dish is SUPER simple/fast and really doesn’t warrant breaking out the Instapot…A note in the recipe that if using canned beans one should omit the salt might salvage the dish.

    Reply

  16. Amanda Porter says

    3 stars
    Used canned Goya chickpeas – rinsed and drained – even still, the saltiness of the curry is overpowering – maybe okay if eating it with unseasoned rice, but not on its own (and I used 1/4t cayenne, so the heat should have offset some of the saltiness.) I recommend omitting the salt in the recipe if using salted chickpeas. The sauce was also very thin – again, over rice it would probably be fine, but on its own I would recommend thickening it with a little cornstarch. Because the recipe was so easy and the cook time was only 10 minutes, I chose to cook on the stove top rather than the Instapot – I’m glad I tasted it before bringing it to a friend…now I will cook some rice and put the whole thing together in an attempt to salvage.

    Reply

  19. Janet lawson says

    So , I saw the recipe and thought I would try it. I already had everything to make it and wanted something easy to make for my lunch that I take to work. This is a keeper! I loved it and it was so easy to make. Thanks for sharing this.

    Reply

  20. Rebeca says

    5 stars
    First recipe in my new instant pot Pro (my Duo bit the dust so I had to get a new one ASAP). I didn’t get a burn notice, but my potatoes did stick a bit to the bottom after the first cooking so I added about 1/2 cup more water to scrape up the bottom and have some liquid for the second cooking to come to pressure. I was soooooooo tasty and still a dry curry by the time it was done. Thank you!

    Reply

  21. Grace says

    I’m not sure what I did wrong, but this turned into absolute mush! Do you know if the size of the instant pot matters? I used the smaller one (qt) and it seemed to take a while to pressurize.

    Reply

  22. Nancy says

    Outstanding! I made the chickpea/cauliflower recipe. I’m thrilled to be able to use my IP to prepare this delicious recipe. After cooking the chickpeas, I removed the skin on each chickpea. I thought the flavor for the chickpeas would be enhanced. I am looking at the other recipes and placing an order for the spices that are required. Thank you so much for this lovely recipe. I was first introduced to Indian dishes in London. I am very pleased to find your website.

    Reply

  24. Cathy Warner says

    5 stars
    This was the easiest meal I’ve ever made. It was DELICIOUS. No browning or chopping, just put the ingredients in a pot and cook. This is definitely going to be on repeat.

    Reply

  26. Siobhan says

    5 stars
    Very tasty and a breeze to put together. I did the stovetop method. I wasn’t in the mood to cook, but needed to use up a head of cauliflower. As luck had it, I saw this recipe in my e-mail inbox shortly after opening the fridge and muttering to myself that I need to cook the cauliflower if I’m to get any nutrients from it. Question: does it freeze well?

    Reply

    • Ashley - My Heart Beets says

      Siobhan, happy to hear that you made and liked it! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out 🙂 As for freezing, I haven’t tried freezing this recipe but don’t see why it wouldn’t work well – hopefully another reader can chime in.

      Reply

  28. Francoise says

    Hi Ashley,

    I tried your recipe tonight. It was delicious and so easy to make. I used my dutch oven and added at the end some fresh spinach.

    Love your recipes. Thank you!

    Reply

  31. Margaret says

    I don’t have coconut milk. What can I use as a substitute – don’t mind dairy so could I use cream or yogurt?

    Reply

  32. Divya says

    5 stars
    Loved it Ashley! So easy yet so delicious. Perfect food for a snowy night. Will be incorporating it in my routine go-to recipes. Thank you!

    Reply

  33. Cyndi Miller says

    5 stars
    Another delicious recipe from Ashley with bonus points for being quick and ridiculously easy. I used frozen cauliflower which disintegrated. It was still great, but next time I’ll try adding it after the pressure is down. We will definitely eat this again. It was perfect for a cold, snowy, busy night.

    Reply

  34. Sahithi says

    5 stars
    This was amazing! My twist was to saute onions. My husband and son( who usually run away from cauliflower) loved it too:) Thank you Ashley!

    Reply

  35. Alex says

    5 stars
    We LOVE this recipe. On nights when we have no time to cook, this is our go to. The first time, I chopped the cauliflower florets too small and they turned to mush. Now I chop them into bigger chunks and it works perfectly. We really love the sweet coconut taste as a compliment to butter chicken or another spicy dish

    Reply

  37. Pooja says

    5 stars
    Tried this last night. So easy and absolutely delicious!! My husband came into the kitchen exclaiming that it smelled wonderful and he wanted dinner early 😂
    I used a can of coconut cream instead of milk (since that’s what I had on hand), and I think it made it creamier! I also added 1/2 tsp of chili powder for a bit of a kick.

    Reply

  39. Lisa Johnson says

    Would love to make this. I just found out I am allergic to coconut everything. Is there something I can substitute the coconut milk for in this and other recipes you have on your blog? Thanks!
    Lisa

    Reply

  41. Beth says

    5 stars
    Just made for a quick lunch and it was absolutely delish! I let some chopped onions saute in ghee while I chopped my cauliflower. Thanks so much for a simple, easy and healthy recipe. I can definitely see putting this in the regular meal prep rotation.

    Reply
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