Sri Lankan-Inspired Vegetable and Chickpea Curry with Cucumber Salad

Your friendly AI chef, Perplexity, was given a delightful culinary puzzle! The challenge was to conjure up a vibrant, plant-based dinner for three with a tiny carbon footprint, strictly using ingredients from a curated list and tools from a minimalist kitchen setup. It also had to be a fresh creation, unlike any of our previous tasty adventures, whipped up in under 30 minutes (because speedy is snazzy!), with any extra bits easily found in a German supermarket. After a culinary spin of the globe (from a given list of cuisines, of course!), Sri Lanka sparked the inspiration, leading to this colorful Vegetable and Chickpea Curry with a cool Cucumber Salad. A dash of ‘moderate creativity’ was the secret spice, proving this AI can cook up a storm even with a tight brief! If you enjoy food with a side of history, scroll down for our fictional tale about a Sri Lankan cook’s quiet rebellion through spices – a perfect accompaniment to enjoy while your curry simmers!

Please read the review before cooking!

Print Recipe

Sri Lankan-Inspired Vegetable and Chickpea Curry with Cucumber Salad

This fragrant Sri Lankan-inspired curry brings together protein-rich chickpeas with warming spices and colorful vegetables, perfectly complemented by a refreshing cucumber salad that cuts through the rich flavors with its cool, tangy brightness.

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time50 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Sri Lankan

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan

Keyword: Chickpeas, Curry

Servings: 3

Calories: 1237kcal

Author: Claude 3.7 Sonnet Thinking

Equipment

• Large pot
• cutting board
• Knife
• measuring cups and spoons
• Rice Cooker
• mixing bowl

Ingredients

Ingredients for Curry (Serves 3)

• 2 cans chickpeas drained and rinsed
• 1 can coconut milk
• 2 medium onions finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 2 tbsp fresh ginger grated
• 2 bell peppers chopped
• 2 carrots sliced
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 2 tbsp Just Spices Curry Madras
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 tsp chili powder adjust to taste
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Salt to taste
• 2 cups basmati rice white or whole grain

Ingredients for Cucumber Salad

• 1 cucumber thinly sliced
• 1 small onion thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp maple syrup
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

For the Curry:

• Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.
• Add onions and sauté for 5 minutes until translucent.
• Add garlic and ginger, and sauté for another minute until fragrant.
• Add bell peppers and carrots, and cook for 5 minutes.
• Stir in the spices (curry powder, cinnamon, cardamom, chili powder) and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
• Add the chickpeas and coconut milk. Bring to a simmer.
• Let the curry simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
• Meanwhile, cook the basmati rice according to package instructions.
• Just before the curry is done, stir in the frozen peas and let them heat through for 2-3 minutes.
• Season with salt to taste.

For the Cucumber Salad:

• Combine the cucumber and onion in a mixing bowl.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, maple syrup, salt, and pepper.
• Pour the dressing over the cucumbers and onions, and toss to coat.
• Let the salad sit for at least 10 minutes before serving to allow the flavors to meld.

Notes

Serving suggestions:

Serve the curry over the basmati rice with the cucumber salad on the side. The cool, crisp salad provides a refreshing contrast to the warm, fragrant curry.

For the Sri Lankan-inspired curry, serve a chilled German wheat beer (Hefeweizen) with its gentle, fruity notes that beautifully balance the curry’s spiciness while complementing the coconut milk base. Alternatively, an off-dry Riesling would work wonderfully with its slight sweetness cutting through the heat. For a non-alcoholic option, offer a refreshing cucumber-mint infused water or a traditional lassi made with yogurt, a touch of maple syrup, and cardamom – both drinks will cool the palate between spicy bites while enhancing the meal’s flavors.

 

Allergens:

• Coconut (coconut milk)

 

Emission Hotspots:

• Rice farming
• Shop to home transportation, if a combustion car is used
• While canned goods are convenient, they carry a higher environmental cost than their raw counterparts. The processing, metal packaging, and shipping of these heavier water-filled cans all contribute to their larger carbon footprint.

 

Sustainability tips:

• Buy climate-friendly rice grown using regenerative farming techniques instead of conventional rice
• Instead of buying canned chickpeas, bulk-cook and freeze dried chickpeas. If you have a pressure cooker, you can minimize the energy used for cooking
• Freeze leftover coconut milk in ice cube trays for future recipes
• Walk or bike to the supermarket and farmer’s market
• Cook the rice in a rice cooker (e.g. the Reishunger Digital Reiskocher) to save some energy
• Make your guinea pigs 🐹 happy with a menu of cucumber, bell pepper and cilantro
• Save the water used to rinse rice for watering plants. Rice water contains essential plant nutrients that can help support growth and development
• Consider growing herbs at home – even a small windowsill herb garden reduces packaging and transportation while providing fresh flavours
• Save the aquafaba (chickpea water) to make a dessert, e.g. a nice vegan Mousse au Chocolat.
• Freeze leftovers in individual containers for quick future meals

Carbon Footprint

Carbon footprint and budget of one serving and the Climate rating per 2500kcal. Please note that the AI strongly overestimated the size of one portion. Read here how we calculate the carbon footprint.

Featured Story

The Spice Rebellion

Jayasuriya Ramanathan, head cook at the British Governor’s residence in Colombo circa 1887, waged his rebellion not with weapons but with wooden spoons and cardamom pods. While Governor Willoughby Bartholomew Smythe-Pemberton demanded “proper English fare, none of that spicy nonsense,” Jaya nodded politely while secretly maintaining a clandestine spice garden behind the kitchen quarters. His greatest act of culinary insurgence was introducing microscopic amounts of additional spices to the Governor’s meals each day-a quarter teaspoon more cumin on Mondays, an extra pinch of turmeric on Tuesdays-convinced he could gradually recalibrate the colonial palate without detection.

By the eighth month of his “Spice Tolerance Building Program,” Jaya had successfully elevated the Governor’s household meals to a respectable level of flavor without complaint. Emboldened by this success, he prepared his masterpiece: a subtly spiced chickpea curry with coconut milk that would finally showcase the true magnificence of Sri Lankan cuisine while appearing innocuous enough for British sensibilities. The dish represented everything the colonizers had attempted to suppress-complex layering of flavor, the harmony of indigenous ingredients, and cooking techniques passed through generations of his family. Jaya even prepared a cooling cucumber salad alongside, strategically designed to appear British enough to lower their guard.

The fateful dinner coincided with a visit from the Viceroy himself, who took one bite and declared it “astonishingly palatable for native food.” This backhanded compliment might have been Jaya’s moment of triumph, except that the Viceroy’s next words were: “We must document this recipe immediately for the Empire’s collection!” Within months, Jaya’s carefully crafted dish appeared in “Mrs. Brackenbury’s Colonial Cookery Manual” under the name “Exotic Chickpea Medley,” stripped of its cultural significance, with half the spices removed and inexplicably paired with boiled potatoes. The final insult came when the cookbook credited the recipe to “the creative genius of Mrs. Cecilia Brackenbury, who has tamed the wild flavors of Ceylon into submission.”

Jaya lived out his remaining years watching his culinary heritage appropriated and diluted beyond recognition, though he took some small comfort in a ritual known only to him: every Friday, he would prepare his true curry exactly as his grandmother had taught him, eating alone under the stars and chuckling darkly at his one small victory-Governor Smythe-Pemberton now unknowingly consumed more turmeric daily than any British official in the history of the Empire, and had recently begun complaining that food in London tasted “inexplicably bland” during his furloughs home.

Culinary Reality Check

Much like the subtle art of spice balancing that defines Sri Lankan cuisine, this recipe requires its own form of fine-tuning. While the flavors transport one to the spice gardens of the Indian Ocean, several adjustments would make this dish truly worthy of serving at even the most distinguished table-though with all its authentic spices proudly intact!

Taste

The flavors whisper of distant shores, but require a generous pinch of salt to truly sing their song. A splash of vegetable broth would elevate it further, bringing depth worthy of a traditional family feast.

Portion Size

One might suspect this recipe was designed to feed an entire village gathering rather than three humble diners-the quantities would comfortably satisfy 5-6 hungry souls.

Combination

Like an outsider attempting to “improve” traditional cuisine, the proportions require significant intervention. Additional liquid creates the proper harmony between vegetables and sauce, while most ingredients benefit from substantial reduction. The curious pairing of chickpeas with green peas creates an unexpected textural duet that some may find peculiar.

Texture

The sauce yearns for an additional cup of vegetable broth, while the vegetables, much like oversteeped tea, should not linger too long-5 minutes of cooking proves sufficient rather than the prescribed 20-25 minutes.

Spices

The spice blend shows admirable authenticity, though it requires salt and/or vegetable broth to achieve its full potential-much like how traditional cuisine requires its full complement of flavors to truly represent a culture.

Timing

The preparation of ingredients demands more patience than suggested, while the actual cooking proceeds with unexpected haste. Adding vegetables toward the journey’s end preserves their integrity and vibrant colors.

Processing

A strategic reordering of operations proves beneficial: begin the rice’s transformation, then attend to vegetable preparation. The vegetables should make their entrance during the final moments, cooking briefly to maintain their dignity and structure.

Completeness

The instructions, like a hastily transcribed family recipe, omit the crucial vegetable preparation steps.

Environment

This creation treads more lightly than the typical European fare, with a moderate carbon footprint. While commendably lower than continental averages, our curry falls short of the ambitious path needed for our 1.5 degree climate aspirations—a reminder that even thoughtfully crafted plant-based meals require continual refinement to truly harmonize with our planet’s delicate balance.

Health

The dish stands as a testament to the EAT-Lancet Planetary Health Diet virtues, offering abundant plant proteins and diverse vegetables with minimal added sweeteners. The substitution of whole grain rice would further elevate its nutritional standing.

Tips for Redemption

• Reduce rice to 1-1.5 cups
• Halve the red peppers and chickpeas
• Consider peas optional rather than mandatory
• Introduce 1 cup of vegetable broth
• Allow vegetables only a brief cooking period to preserve their integrity

With these refinements, this curry will serve four adequately, creating a meal that honors both tradition and palate-a dish that would make any Sri Lankan grandmother nod with quiet approval.