Rebekah's Chickpea Curry

I am back from vacation and slowly settling back into my normal routine. I had my friend M over for dinner last night, and she loves chickpeas so I made us a curry. I also chose to make curry because it's cold in Edmonton, and I'm having a hard time getting used to this weather again.

Rebekah's Chickpea Curry
serves: A small army of 8 or more

Ingredients:
2 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size chunks
1 onion, diced
4 tbsp curry paste
2 cans coconut milk
1 can whole tomatoes
1 habanero pepper, ribs and seeds removed, finely chopped
2 cans chickpeas
2 bell peppers (red, yellow or orange)
1 cup cashews (toasted if desired)


Directions:
1) heat 1 tbsp oil over medium high in a large pot or skillet. Add the chicken and cook until browned, about 5 minutes. Remove chicken from pan.
2) Heat remaining oil and add onion. Saute until soft, about 2 minutes. Add the coconut milk, curry paste and tomatoes, breaking the tomatoes apart with a wooden spoon. (Or, like me, you can puree the tomatoes in a food processor before adding them)
3) Add the habanero pepper and chickpeas. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the peppers and cashews and heat through, about 1 minute.

Serve with rice and/or naan bread.

I made the mistake of adding the habanero with the onions, this is a terrible idea because the room will quickly be permeated with habanero. Habanero peppers are quite hot, and having the air permeated with the oil will cause you and anyone else in the room to cough until the air clears. Add the pepper after all the liquids have been added to the pot.
Aside from that situation, this is a very easy curry to put together. I used a pre-made curry paste for the sake of making it even easier. The curry isn't too spicy, but it does have a bit of heat to it. Overall, a tasty dish on a wintry night.