Summer Squash and Chickpea Curry

By the Gracious Vegan

This lovely curry makes good use of home gardens’ harvests—eggplant and summer squash. I like to serve this curry with baked Indian fritters. 

Cashew liquid. Soakcashews in cold water at least 2 hours, or pour boiling water over them, cover, and let them soak 20 minutes. (You can skip this step if you have a high-speed blender.)

• 1/3 cup raw cashews

Drain and rinse the cashews (if you soaked them) and blend them with the water until the cashews are dissolved (from 30 seconds to several minutes). Set aside. 

• 1.75 cups water

Water-sauté the following ingredients in a Dutch oven or other large pan (start with ¼ cup water and add more as needed.) (What is water-sauté?) Cook 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are just tender. 

• 2 cups diced onion

• 2 Tablespoons minced fresh ginger

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 medium eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 4 cups)

• 1 medium yellow summer squash, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (around 1.5 cups)

• 1 large or two small zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (around 1.5 cups)

• 1 teaspoon salt

Stir in the following ingredients and cook 1 to 2 more minutes.

• 1 teaspoon garam masala

• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

• 1/2 teaspoon siracha sauce (or to taste) 

• Freshly ground black pepper

Add the following ingredients to the pot and stir.

• The cashew liquid

• One 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

• One 16-ounce can tomato sauce or one 14-ounce can petite-dice tomatoes (your preference depending on the texture you’d like)

• 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (see more needed below)

Raise the heat to medium high and bring the curry to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the eggplant, squash, and zucchini are completely tender but still hold their shape, and the sauce has thickened, 15 to 20 minutes.

Serve the curry with rice and sprinkle with additional cilantro.

• Cooked rice (preferably brown basmati rice)

• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Timing: Hands-on time: 30 minutes; total time: 55 minutes

Nutritional information per serving (including 1/2 cup brown rice each): 285 calories, 4g fat, 1g sat. fat, 52g carbs, 876mg sodium, 10mg fiber, 10g protein 

Gluten-free