Easy Chickpea Curry with Potato (Chana Aloo Curry)
Recipe video above. Say goodbye to boring chickpea recipes! This vegetarian curry called Channa Aloo Curry, is a really great authentic Chickpea Curry that packs serious flavour, is easy, and no need to hunt down unusual spices - everything is from the local grocery shop. It's a Caribbean curry from Trinidad that tastes very similar to tomato based Indian curries. Spiciness: Medium, from the cayenne pepper most, and bit from white pepper. Can reduce or omit (Note 3).
Servings: 5
Calories: 248cal
Ingredients
Spices (Note 1):
- 2 tbsp curry powder , mild - just regular grocery store brands like Clives, Keens(Note 2)
- 1 tsp All Spice powder
- 1 tsp nutmeg powder (or 1/2 tsp freshly grated)
- 1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika (or normal/sweet)
- 2 tsp dried thyme leaves (or 3 tsp fresh)
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper for spiciness - reduce or omit (Note 3)
- 1 tsp white pepper (or 1/2 tsp black pepper) (Note 3)
Curry
- 3 tbsp canola or coconut oil (any type) , or any other oil for cooking
- 2 large garlic cloves , minced
- 1 large onion , diced (brown, white, yellow)
- 1 1/2 cups potatoes , cut into 1.2cm / 1/2" cubes (1 large, any type, peeled)
- 28 oz / 800g canned chickpeas (2 x 14oz/400g cans), drained (Note 3)
- 14 oz / 400g canned crushed tomatoes
- 2 cups vegetable or chicken broth/stock , low sodium
- 1 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt , plus more to taste (halve for table salt)
- 2 green onion , sliced (green & white part)
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley , finely chopped (or coriander/cilantro) - optional
Serving - choose
- 1 tbsp coriander/cilantro leaves , chopped - optional
- Dollop of yogurt - recommended
- Basmati rice OR
- White rice
Instructions
ABBREVIATED RECIPE
- Sauté garlic and onion, then toast Spices for 1 min. Stir in potatoes, then chickpeas, tomato, stock and salt. Simmer 15 min, stir in green onion and parsley, serve!
FULL RECIPE
- Sauté - Heat oil in a large pot or very deep skillet over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic, cook for 3 minutes until onion is translucent.
- Add Curry Spices and stir for 1 minute.
- Add the potatoes and stir to coat in the Spices. If the spices start to stick to the bottom of the pot, add a tiny splash of water.
- Simmer 15 minutes - Add the chickpeas, tomatoes, veg or chicken broth and salt. Bring to simmer then turn down the heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked and the sauce has thickened.
- Adjust salt - Taste and add more salt if needed. Stir through scallions/shallots and parsley.
- Serve with rice with a dollop of yogurt and coriander/cilantro if desired. Basmati would be ideal, or Coconut Rice if you're wanting to impress. To go all out, add some Easy Soft Flatbreads!
Notes
1. Spices: Because there are quite a number of spices, it's not the end of the world if you skip one or two of them (except curry powder!). It won't taste quite the same but still really great. The ones that aren't that critical (in isolation) are: nutmeg, thyme, cayenne, pepper, and All Spice.
2. Curry Powder: Use mild (ie not spicy), though feel free to use HOT if you know you can handle the heat! Use any regular curry powder you have / want. I've made it with Clives of India, Keens and Hoyts over the years (brands sold at Australian grocery stores) as well as curry powders from Indian stores, and they were all great.
3. Spiciness: Medium, from the cayenne pepper and white pepper. Feel free to omit cayenne for unnoticeable spiciness, or 1/4 teaspoon for very mild. White pepper adds flavour so keep it if you can, though you can reduce if you want. You can always start with none and stir in bit by bit towards the end, adjusting to taste.
4. Chickpeas - This recipe is terrific made with any beans or lentils. The spicy curry sauce is terrific with cannellini beans, navy, great northern, kidney, black beans, butter beans, lima beans, and any type of lentils.
Dried chickpeas - 1 standard can is about 1.5 cups / 250g once drained, so you need 3 cups / 500g of cooked chickpeas. Dried chickpeas increase by about 3.2x once cooked, so you will need 1 cup / 165g dried chickpeas which will yield just over 3 cups once cooked.
5. Storage - Keeps extremely well, nothing in this goes off quickly. Fridge 5 days (or longer if you're comfortable!), freezes brilliantly too. When I'm in a curry, I partially thaw in the microwave (just to loosen from container) then finish heating through on the stove. Otherwise, can also thaw and reheat completely in microwave.
6. Source: This recipe is slightly modified from the Curry Channa and Aloo recipe from Immaculate Bites. Original recipe called for 1 scotch bonnet or habanero pepper, finely chopped. I've simplified it by using cayenne pepper for spiciness - I honestly can't tell the difference (I've tried both ways). Also, the original recipe did not call for canned tomatoes. Some Trinidad Chana Aloo Curry recipes do. I added it to create a slightly thicker sauce.
Nutrition per serving, curry only (excludes rice).
Nutrition
Serving: 526g | Calories: 248cal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 11g | Sodium: 759mg | Potassium: 733mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 945IU | Vitamin C: 18.6mg | Calcium: 103mg | Iron: 5.6mg