Packed full of summer fresh flavors with substance, protein and crunch, this chickpea cucumber tomato salad recipe will likely make its way to the top of your summer recipes to-make list!
This cucumber chickpea curry salad is a delicious way to make great use of those garden cucumbers.
We’re using dried chickpeas in this recipe, but you can use canned chickpeas if you don’t have dried, or for a short cut. We provide chickpea cooking instructions below, if you choose that route.
We prefer dried because it’s less expensive and saves on use of cans. Even though we recycle our cans, it still takes a lot of energy, versus one small plastic bag that the dried beans come in. But we do use both.
Canned garbanzos are great to have on hand for when you need them quickly, and they save you from having to heat up the kitchen as much in summer. So whatever works for you will work for this recipe.
CHICKPEA CONVERSIONS FOR SUBSTITUTIONS:
One 15 oz can equals 1.5 cups of chickpeas.
1/2 cup of dried chickpeas equals approximately 1 1/3 cups cooked chickpeas.
A Substantial Summer Salad
When thinking of flavors of food that pair well together, cucumbers, chickpea and curry never crossed my mind. While I love curry, and I love cucumbers, the two together just never clicked. But this blend works great together. You have the a cool summer salad with the contrasting hint of heat in the spices.
This easy chickpea curry cucumber salad screams summer!
Fresh Veggies and Filling Low Cal Chickpeas
Purple onion, fresh cilantro, and cucumbers? Talk about a powerful combination of three amazing ingredients. The best part? If you grow these items in your own garden you can literally walk out your back door and have them fresh.
And those ingredients fresh are packed full of even more flavor. Seriously. If you’ve never had cilantro straight from the garden, you are truly missing out.
While this recipe is simple to make, the spices give it an exotic taste. The beauty of this recipe? It starts to actually become more flavorful the longer that it sits and marinates together all the spices and flavors. If you have the chance to make it ahead of time and let it sit overnight, those flavors will be even stronger the next day!
Give this easy chickpea curry recipe a try! It’s a great addition to a summer BBQ, a church picnic, or any type of carry-in lunch or dinner that you plan on attending. It’s sure to be a hit by everyone who tastes it! People will probably be asking your for the recipe soo please send them to RecipesAndMe.com. 😊 💙
The fresh flavors spiced up with curry seasonings will take your taste buds on an amazing trip.
Chickpea Curry Cucumber Salad Serving Ideas
This easy chickpea curry is a good side dish for sandwiches, soups and meats. Here are some serving ideas.
Serving Ideas
- In pita pockets
- Sandwich rolls using chapatis, tortillas or other flatbreads
- Mound onto a bed of lettuce
- Side dish to any meat, such as chicken wings
How to Cook Dried Chickpeas
For cooking dried garbanzos (chickpeas), we just cook the entire bag of chickpeas and use any extras for roasted chickpeas, which are great snacks and salad toppings. Or you can just use them plain on salad or for a quick hummus, like this roasted garlic hummus for spread or dip.
Instant Pot Chickpeas for Quick Cook
You can use your Instant Pot instructions, or these for cooking Instant Pot pinto beans, as it’s the same process for chickpeas. We’ve found that it takes just 30 minutes for the chickpeas to go from dried to cooked.
If you experience digestive gas from chickpeas (or any other legumes), adding a teaspoon of baking soda can help to reduce this. We also like to add a bay leaf for a hint of gentle seasoning.
Stove Top – How to Cook Chickpeas in a Pot
The night before you plan to make this curry, place the dried chickpeas in a large pot, fill with water and add about 1/4 tsp of baking soda.
The baking soda helps reduce cooking time. If you are able to, rinse the chickpeas in the morning and refresh the water before you go to work: this helps get rid of the gas producing sugars in the beans.
When you are ready to cook, rinse the beans well and place back into the pot with fresh water, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for about about 1 hour or until the beans are just tender.
Skim off any white foam that rises to the top while the beans are cooking.
Do not add salt while the beans are cooking, as this can make them tough.
Chickpea Cucumber Tomato Salad
Easy Chickpea Curry With Cucumbers
Ingredients
Cucumber Mixture
- 1 long English cucumber diced
- 1/4 cup green or purple onion finely chopped
- 3 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup cilantro chopped
Chickpea Curry Mixture
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup oil
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh ginger finely chopped
- 2 medium tomatoes pureed
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 cup water
- 4 cups cooked chickpeas*
- 1/2 cup cilantro finely chopped
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients for cucumber mixture, cover and place in the fridge to cool.
- Combine all of the dried spices for the chickpea curry in a small bowl
- Heat oil on medium heat and add onion, sauteing for about 8 minutes.
- Stir in ginger and saute for about 1 minute.
- Add tomato puree, lemon juice, and spice mixture and cook for about 5 minutes, until oil glistens on top.
- Add cooked chickpeas and water, stir and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Serve topped with cucumber mixture.
Nutrition
