Fresh corn adds juicy bursts of sweetness to this flavorful Indian-inspired chickpea curry. Serve over basmati rice with a sprinkling of cilantro for an easy and flavor-packed summer meal.
My husband and I have a shared dream of someday owning a summer house in the southern hemisphere. The idea being to go there when it’s summer up here in the northern hemisphere, and winter down there, so we can avoid summer altogether. The temperatures have been up in the nineties where we live, so we’ve been talking about our little no-summer home fantasy a lot lately.
My only issue with avoiding summer is missing out on the food. Are milder temperatures worth giving up fresh zucchini, juicy cherries, and sweet summer corn? I’m not sure! It does make the decision really tough.
Anyway, I haven’t covered a whole lot of summer produce yet this year. But there’s been plenty of fresh corn available here in the northeast, so I’m starting with that!
Is it too hot out for curry? I think not. I mean, I think it’s too hot out period, but nothing stops me from making curry. And I’ve had the idea in my head forever to pair up some summer corn with Indian spices and make a delicious curry. Crank up the air. It’s worth it.
As an added bonus, this is a stove top only meal. No oven required! It cooks up in a few stages.
First, sauté some onion, garlic, ginger, and cumin seeds. After a few minutes you can add just about everything else, and then let it simmer for about 20 minutes to soften up the corn.
Finally, blend up half of your curry to make a nice creamy base. I used an immersion blender, but you could also do this in a food processor.
Lime juice, salt and pepper go in at the end. Spoon it over rice, sprinkle with cilantro, and dig in.
Tips for Making Awesome Summer Corn & Chickpea Curry
- Substitute frozen corn when fresh isn’t in season. Thaw it first!
- For extra heat, add a minced serrano pepper at the same time as the garlic.
- Adjust the amounts of any of the spices to suit your personal preference.
- To cut down on the fat/calories in this recipe, try using light coconut milk.
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Indian-Inspired Chickpea & Summer Corn Curry
Fresh corn adds juicy bursts of sweetness to this flavorful Indian-inspired chickpea curry. Serve over basmati rice with a sprinkling of cilantro for an easy and flavor-packed summer meal.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon canola oil, or another high-heat oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
- 1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1 (14 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 3 cups fresh corn kernels (about 4 ears)
- 1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
- 2-3 teaspoons garam masala (to taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- Black pepper to taste
For Serving
- Cooked rice
- Fresh cilantro
Instructions
Coat the bottom of a large pot with oil and place it over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion and sauté for about 5 minutes, until soft and translucent.
Add the garlic, ginger and cumin seeds. Continue to sauté for about 1 minute, until very fragrant and the cumin seeds darken.
Stir in the tomatoes, chickpeas, corn, coconut milk, garam masala, turmeric, and cayenne pepper.
Raise the heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Lower the heat and allow it to simmer for 20 minutes, or until the corn is tender, stirring occasionally.
If you have an immersion blender, use it to blend about half of the mixture. Otherwise, blend in a food processor or blender, then return it to the pot.
Stir in the lime juice and season with salt and pepper.
Serve with rice and a sprinkle of fresh cilantro.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition information does not include rice.
I know this sounds silly but what can you substitute coconut milk with? I really hate the coconut taste in savory recipes.
I think cashew would be the best bet. Thanks for your question!
I’d finish this with a tadka for extra flavor
That would be delicious!
Hello, congratulations for all the recipes that I translate, copy and try! I share your desire to move, I would like to go to Norway! I wanted to ask you something for this recipe, what do you mean by corn kernels? Here in Italy there is already soft corn in the box or the dry corn to make the frame, I’ve never seen it frozen. Can you help me? Thank you
Norway sounds awesome!
Can you get fresh corn? I bought it fresh on the cob and just sliced the kernels off with a knife like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLwC6l0qquA If frozen is available it would be with the other frozen veggies. Something like this: https://www.birdseye.com/product/sweet-corn/ I hope that helps!
Made this dish today. It was very good. Only thing I added was 1 T curry to the other spices. Will definitely make this again. Thanks
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!! Thanks Debra!
I made this for dinner tonight with fresh Indiana sweet corn. It was delicious! The whole family approved. Thanks for sharing!
Yay!! I’m glad it was a hit! Thanks Lori!
Thanks for a good recipe inspiration! I never totally follow recipes, was just looking for flavor combination ideas and this worked great. I added a bunch of veg and had the corn on the side but mostly followed your spicing/condiments. Yum :)
Sounds delicious! Glad you enjoyed it!
Wow, that was a truly amazing tasting dish. Thank you!
I’m glad you like it!
I made this for the fam last night, Alissa, even though it’s definitely not summer here. I used curry powder instead of garam masala by mistake, but it didn’t matter because it was delicious anyway. And it was easy––so appreciated at this busy time of year. Thank you for the recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks so much Erin!
EXCELLENT!!!! We had it ladled over baked sweet potato instead of serving with rice. OMG!!! Sweet. Savory. Creamy. This dish as it all.
Oh, that sounds like a delicious way to serve this! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Hi Alissa,
Just a note to let you know as much as we enjoy our summer garden vegetables, I grow weary of finding unique ways to use zucchini, tomatoes with blemishes and leftover sweet corn. Again, this recipe (with fresh tomato chunks & zucchini, sans chickpeas) over baked sweet potato was a big hit. I gave you credit at the dinner table and my husband said I should have invited you over. You would have been proud! Smile. (P.S., leftovers are Thursday nite!!!)
Yay! I’m glad it was a hit! And I know the feeling – my tomato plants are wearing me out this year. :)
I looked at several of the recipes all of which looked delicious however, they all contain a high degree of fat and saturated fats
Not all of my recipes are healthy – just vegan. :) Feel free to modify by cutting down on oil, salt, using low sodium versions of basic ingredients such as broth, etc. You can also look for websites and dishes labeled whole food plant based if you want to stick with just the healthy stuff.
This was easy and delicious! We also threw in some baby spinach that we needed to use up and it worked well. Thanks!
Sounds delicious! Glad you enjoyed it – thanks so much Katie!