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Vietnamese Eggplant and Chickpea Curry | Vegan Ca Ri

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By: Cindy Lam Lorimer
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 6
Ca Ri Chay is a Vietnamese vegan curry, a fragrant blend of vegetables and tofu simmered in a coconut milk-based sauce infused with lemongrass and curry spices.

Ingredients 

Baked eggplant:

  • 3 large eggplants, cut into 2 inch pieces
  • olive oil

Marinade:

  • 2 14 oz tofu, cut into 1-2 inch pieces, deep fried
  • 2 cans garbanzo beans/chickpeas, drained
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • 1 Tbsp mushroom powder
  • 2 Tbsp vegan fish sauce
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 Tbsp Vietnamese curry powder, or any type of yellow curry powder, preferably Madras
  • 1 tsp turmeric powder
  • 2 tsp brown sugar
  • 1 Tbsp annatto oil
  • 1 tsp shallots, chopped
  • 1 tsp garlic, chopped

Annatto oil:

  • ½ cup avocado oil, or any neutral oil
  • 1 Tbsp annatto seeds

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups carrots, peeled, cut into 2-3 inch length
  • 2 cups potatoes or sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into 2-3 inch length
  • 1 large shallot, chopped
  • 1 inch ginger, peeled, smashed
  • 2 Tbsp garlic, chopped
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 4 lime leaves, optional
  • 1 Tbsp tomato paste
  • 2 Tbsp Vietnamese curry powder, or any yellow curry powder, like Madras
  • 1 tomato, quartered
  • 1 liter coconut water, plus 2 cups
  • 1 liter vegetable broth, plus 2 cups
  • 2 14 oz cans coconut cream
  • 1 Tbsp mushroom powder
  • 3 Tbsp kosher salt
  • 1 Tbsp cornstarch, mixed with 2 Tbsp water
  • 3 stalks lemongrass, cut into 5″ pieces, smashed
  • 1 onion, quartered lengthwise 

Garnish:

  • bean sprouts
  • cilantro
  • green onions, chopped
  • basil, rau ram, culantro and/or mint leaves
  • lime 

Optional:

  • steamed rice
  • vermicelli noodles 
  • French baguette bread 

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
  • Cut eggplants into medium size pieces. Place on baking pans that are lined with parchment paper, and drizzle them with olive oil. You might need 2-3 baking pans.
  • Bake eggplants for 20 minutes.
  • After 20 minutes, remove the baking pan, turn eggplants over and put back in the oven to bake for an additional 20 minutes.
  • Remove from oven and peel skin of eggplant, discard and put eggplant meat in a bowl.
  • Heat deep fryer to 380 degrees and fry tofu until they are nice and light brown.
  • Marinate baked eggplant, fried tofu and chickpeas with all the ingredients in the marinade. Put aside and prepare the rest of your ingredients.
  • Make annatto oil by first heating up ½ cup oil. Once oil is hot, remove from heat and add 1 tablespoon of annatto seeds. Don’t let the oil get too hot, or it will burn the annatto seeds. Strain and put annatto oil aside for cooking later.
  • This next step is optional as you don’t need to fry the carrots and potatoes, and you can simply just add them to the pot when you add the chicken broth.
  • In a deep fryer, do a quick fry of the carrots and potatoes so they don’t disintegrate in the curry later. You can also air fry them. If air frying, brush oil on vegetables, then set your air fryer to 350 degrees and fry it for 15 minutes, occasionally shaking the pan. I usually do the air fry version.
  • In a pot, on medium high heat, add ¼ cup annatto oil to a pot.
  • Fry chopped shallots and ginger for a few minutes until shallots are soft.
  • Then add garlic, bay leaves, lime leaves and tomato paste and cook for another minute.
  • Take two tablespoons of the curry powder and fry with onion mix to bring out the curry flavor.
  • Add the marinated baked eggplants, fried tofu and chickpeas, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes and pour in coconut water, vegetable broth and coconut cream. Add mushroom powder, salt, cornstarch and lemongrass stalks.
  • Bring to a boil and then lower to medium heat and let simmer for 45 minutes.
  • After 45 minutes of simmering, add quartered onions and then turn off heat immediately. This is so the onion will be nice and crunchy still.
  • Throughout the cooking process, make sure to occasionally scoop the foam off the top.
  • Serve with either rice or with vermicelli noodles and eat it like a soup, or dip with French baguette bread.

Nutrition

Serving: 1portion | Calories: 1007kcal | Carbohydrates: 91g | Protein: 40g | Fat: 63g | Saturated Fat: 43g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 9g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Sodium: 5154mg | Potassium: 2283mg | Fiber: 26g | Sugar: 21g | Vitamin A: 7803IU | Vitamin C: 36mg | Calcium: 487mg | Iron: 11mg

Equipment

  • 8 quart pot 

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