Low Fat Thai Coconut Curry with Chickpeas

This super fast and easy recipe is absolutely delicious. Get all the flavor and creaminess of coconut milk without the fat and calories. This makes 3 2-cup servings and freezes really well making it a super fast healthy meal on the go. Chickpeas add a great texture and boost the protein content.  Serve this over rice or shirataki noodles to really make a meal.

Ingredients

• ¼ cup filtered water
• 2 large shallot bulbs, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced or diced finely
• 2 cups filtered water or 2 cups oat milk
• 2 Tbs. shredded coconut (preferably sulfite-free)
• 2 Tbs. tapioca starch
• 1 Tbs. lite tamari or soy-free coconut seasoning sauce (omit for low sodium meal)
• 2 Tbs. Thai red curry paste
• 1 Tbs. dried basil*
• ½ tsp. turmeric
• A little black pepper
• 1 can chickpeas or 1 ½ cups cooked
• 1 large tomato, diced
• 1 cup spinach, shredded

 
Method

1. In a blender or bullet make a slurry of water (or plant milk), coconut and tapioca starch.  Set aside to give the coconut a chance to rehydrate.
2. In a medium pot or large deep sauce pan, add water and heat on low medium.
3. Sauté the shallots and garlic until the shallots are translucent.
4. Add the coconut slurry,  lite tamari, red curry paste, basil, turmeric and pepper and heat through until the coconut slurry has thickened slightly.
5. Add the chickpeas, tomato and spinach and cook for about 10 minutes on low simmer until the spinach has wilted.
6. Serve over brown rice or konjac root (shirataki) noodles or cool and freeze in glass containers.

• Note: If you have a lot of fresh basil, use 1 cup shredded in place of dried basil and spinach.

I have been experimenting! The pictures from left to right. 

1.  Coconut curry made with water and without tapioca starch so almost like a soup.
2. Coconut curry made with oat milk and tapioca starch so it's a much creamier dish.
3. Here is the curry with shirataki fettuccini-type noodles
4. Here is the curry over rice with the 2 2-cup servings for freezing.

Okay, so why did I go to all this trouble to create this recipe.  Well, after a couple of years of eating this way, I really missed this yummy recipe and needed to find a guilt free version that would keep the fat and calories low.  Not only is coconut milk high in fat, it is high in saturated fat.  So, it's a real heart stopper and huge derailer if you want to lose weight.

Below is a table of the fat and calorie comparison:

​So, as you can see, if you opted to make this with the oat milk it would be 4 grams of fat and 127 calories per serving.  With filtered water it would only be 2.6 grams of fat and 50 calories per serving.
Now that is awesome guilt-free cooking!  To learn more about shirataki/konjac noodles check out my article: Cooking with Konjac Root which is coming soon.

​Go here to print this recipe:  recipe_low_fat_thai_coconut_curry_with_chickpeas.docx