This vegan curried sunchoke and chickpea soup packs a punch with intense flavours and it finished with a crunch from the roasted crispy chickpeas.
Guys, I LOVE curry. Spicy, rich, aromatic and sweet. It may be hot, but it’s a welcome addition to my weekly menu any night of the week. While I usually make curry with noodles or rice (check out this amazing version here and here), this week I had a hankering for some soup sans carbs.
I’ve got a secret ingredient in this not-so authentic curry chickpea soup recipe and you’ll never guess it: Sunchokes, also known as Jerusalem artichokes, sunroot, earth apple or topinambour. You can find sunchokes at your local grocery shop where they’re usually offered all year round. Here are a few reasons why I love to cook with sunchokes:
- You don’t have to peel em, which saves you a ton of time in the kitchen!
- There’s so many ways to cook em – you can roast them, boil them (then mash them up), saute them, even pickle them… the options are endless!
- They carry some unique health benefits!
Health Benefits of Sunchokes
First of all, here’s a quick nutrition breakdown of a sunchoke. 1 cup contains approximately 110 calories, 3 gram of protein, 26.2 gram of carbohydrates and 2.4 grams of fiber. The fibre component of a sunchoke carries all of the benefits and is specifically known as inulin fibre. Inulin fibre is also known as a prebiotic which helps to promote the growth of probiotics (healthy gut bacteria). To read up more on probiotics and prebibiotics, check out these posts here and here and/or watch this video from my Toilet Talk series!
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Basically, the inulin prebiotic contained in sunchokes is being studied heavily and studies have seen an improvement in gut health (increase in certain types of probiotic bacteria) after consuming sunchokes. Which is pretty cool, because they also taste amazing, which is why I’m using them in this delicious Vegan Curried Sunchoke and Chickpea Soup.
How to Make Vegan Curried Sunchoke and Chickpea Soup
To make the base of this Vegan Curried Sunchoke and Chickpea Soup, I puree coconut milk, spicy curry paste, nutty sunchokes and protein-packed chickpeas until creamy and thick. To add some texture and crunch to this soup, I roast up chickpeas and panfry some extra sunchokes until perfectly crispy and golden brown. Scoop out your soup into a few bowls and garnish with your crispy toppings, bean sprouts, cilantro, shredded carrot and a lime wedge. And as they say, folks, the rest is history. Seriously, thisVegan Curried Sunchoke and Chickpea Soup is damn historical it’s so good.
Also I highly recommend hot piece of naan for the occasional dip in all this deliciousness.
Now I want to hear from you! Are you a curry lover?
Have you ever cooked with sunchokes before?
What’s your fav way of preparing them? Comment below with your thoughts!
Vegan Curried Sunchoke and Chickpea Soup with Crispy Chickpeas
Ingredients
Roasted chickpeas:
- 1 can (19 ounces) no salt added chickpeas, rinsed, drained, and dried well
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 tsp curry powder
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt or more to taste
Sunchoke Chips:
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 tsp curry powder
- 2 sunchokes scrubbed and thinly sliced on a mandolin
Soup:
- 1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger grated
- 3 tbsp red curry paste
- 4 cups sunchokes peeled and diced
- 1 can (19 ounces) no salt added chickpeas, rinsed, drained, and dried well
- 3 1/2 cups reduced sodium vegetable stock
- 1 can lite coconut milk
- Kosher salt and pepper
Garnishes:
- Fresh cilantro
- Shredded carrots
- Bean sprouts
- Lime wedges
- Thai red chili thinly sliced
Instructions
Crispy Chickpeas:
- Place the chickpeas onto a clean kitchen towel. Then top with another towel, and gently use the towel to rub them until the chickpeas start to pop out of their thin, translucent skins. The skins hold a lot of moisture, so getting rid of as many as you can will help keep these beans crispier longer. Don’t worry about getting each and every one, just remove any that easily pop off.
- Transfer the dried chickpeas to a large baking sheet. Toss the chickpeas with a tablespoon of olive oil and ¼ teaspoon of sea salt and curry. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy, stirring and tossing them at least once during the cooking process.
- Turn the oven off, and allow them to sit in the oven (with the oven door closed) as the oven cools down for at least an hour up to until the pan is no longer hot.
Sunchoke Chips:
- Heat the oil in a nonstick skillet over medium high heat and add in the curry powder and sunchoke slices. Pan-fry until golden brown on both sides, about 30 seconds to a minute. Drain on a few sheets of paper towel and set aside.
Soup:
- Preheat a large pot over medium high heat and add in the olive oil. Add the onion and sauté until transluscent, about 5 minutes.Stir in the garlic, ginger and curry paste and stir until the onion is coated in the paste. Cook for about 30 seconds.
- Add in the sunchokes and sauté until they are coated in the mixture, then add in the chickpeas and vegetable stock. Cover and simmer on medium heat for about 20-25 minutes until the sunchokes are very soft.
- Add in the coconut milk and using a hand blender, puree until very smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Keep warm until ready to eat.
- Garnish with the chickpeas, sunchoke chips, bean sprouts, cilantro, chili, lime and carrots.
Notes
Abbey Sharp is a Registered Dietitian, an avid food writer and blogger, a cookbook author and the founder of Abbey’s Kitchen Inc.
dixya @food, pleasure, and health says
i have never had sunchoke in my life so im very interested to try this new to me ingredient in the soup.
Abbey Sharp says
Yes! Definitely give it a try
jill conyers says
I’ve been so into curried chickpeas lately. I need to try this for sure.
Abbey Sharp says
Yes, definitely 🙂
Emily @Sinful Nutrition says
I’ve never tried sunchokes, but I definitely want to now! 😀
Abbey Sharp says
You must!
GiGi Eats says
YOU had me at CRISPY CHICKPEAS!!!
Abbey Sharp says
yasss best thing ever
Amy Gorin says
Looks delicious! So colorful!
Abbey Sharp says
thanks Amy!
Sarah Remmer says
Wow looks delish!
Abbey Sharp says
Thanks girl!
Emily @Sinful Nutrition says
I don’t think I’ve ever had a sunchoke, but that needs to change! This looks amazing! 😀
Abbey Sharp says
yes it does! They’re amazing
Natalie says
I really love anything curry. This soup looks really amazing Abbey. And thank you for so much information about sunchoke. I haven’t tried it yet but now I definitely must incorporate sunchoke in my diet. PS I absolutely love pre-probiotics video. 😉
Abbey Sharp says
Aw thanks Natalie! Definitely a must try! I hope you love em
Lindsey Pine says
This soup looks like it’s bursting with flavor!
Abbey Sharp says
Yes!! You need to try girl!
Stacey Mattinson says
Wow looks so delicious!
Abbey Sharp says
Thanks Stacey!
Carmy @ carmyy.com says
I was literally about to make a curry chickpea recipe yesterday but couldn’t find one my roommate and I could agree on! I’ll have to send this over!
Abbey Sharp says
haha no way! I hope this one does the trick!
Jessica @Nutritioulicious says
This is one good looking soup! Love all the colors and flavors!
Abbey Sharp says
thanks so much Jessica! Tastes amazing
Deborah @ Confessions of a mother runner says
This is my kind of soup! I’ve never made sunchokes
Abbey Sharp says
They’re my go to. So easy to prepare and taste incredible!
Mikki says
Girl. You never cease to amaze me with your fabulous recipes. This one looks so good!!
Abbey Sharp says
Aw thanks love!
dixya @food, pleasure, and health says
i have never cooked with sunchoke before so next time, i find them i will be making this soup. i love curry flavored things as well.
Abbey Sharp says
Yes! Should be easy to find! Let me know if you love them as much as I do 🙂