This is a real proper curry, made from scratch and easy, with great depth of flavour and it’s healthy. You won’t need to hunt down any unusual spices, you might even have them all. This Chickpea Curry is one of those satisfying meals that carnivores don’t even think of as vegetarian. (I am, of course, referring to myself 🙂 )
This curry. It tastes just like Indian curry you get from restaurants. I really mean that. It’s not flat tasting, it has great layers in it, real punchy flavours. And it’s made from scratch – no curry pastes here!
The roots of this particular curry is Trinidad in the Caribbean. But it really tastes very similar to Indian vegetable curries (the tomato based ones, not the creamy ones).
I don’t know if you’ve ever made Indian curries at home before, but I have. And with a few exceptions – like the Butter Chicken recipe I shared last year (GOLD discovery!) – the list of spices required is quite lengthy. And almost without fail, there are spices that I need to hunt down at speciality spice stores or Indian grocery stores.
And therein lies the reason why I am obsessed with this. Half the ingredients required for an Indian curry. Made with spices you can get from your local supermarket. And just as much flavour. Big flavours. BIG.
This is a recipe by Imma from Immaculate Bites, an African-Caribbean food blog. Until I came across Imma’s site, I actually didn’t know that much about Caribbean cuisine. Did you know that Caribbean food is a fusion of many different cuisines, including African, American Indian, European, Indian, Arabic and Chinese? Traditions brought to the region by the population.
And this Chana Aloo Curry (Chana = chickpeas, Aloo = potatoes), is one such example. A Caribbean recipe that tastes very Indian!
I’ve made quite a few recipes from Immaculate Bites. Which is unsurprising given I love the flavours of Caribbean and African food (big flavours and I’m all about flavour explosions!). Actually, last year I shared a recipe of hers on RecipeTin Eats – Jamaican Jerk Chicken. (Seriously so amazing!)
As soon as I saw this chickpea curry recipe on Immaculate Bites, I made it straight away. Not kidding, I really did because I had all the ingredients (you might too!!).
Then I sent Imma a snapshot gleefully, declaring it to be a keeper. I made it again a week later. And again, and again. I even made it to take on a camping trip last year (so easy to reheat over a fire!).
I’m totally obsessed with this. I know the recipe off by heart.
I’ve mucked around with her recipe a wee bit and made notes of what I’ve changed in the recipe below. The main thing is that I added canned tomato because I find that it makes a thicker sauce. I’ve seen a number of versions of this recipe online and some use tomato, some don’t. 🙂
OH! One more thing I love about this – change it up to make it lower carb by swapping out the potatoes and/or chickpeas with diced veggies like zucchinis, carrots, broccoli and cauliflower. Fab.
Meat free for carnivores. This is my type of vegetarian food! – Nagi x
- 3 tbsp cooking oil (I used vegetable)
- 1 large onion , diced (brown, white, yellow)
- 2 large garlic cloves , minced
- 2 tbsp curry powder (Note 5)
- 1 tsp All Spice powder
- 1 tsp nutmeg powder (or 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg) (Note 1)
- 1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika (can substitute with sweet or ordinary paprika)
- 2 tsp dried thyme leaves (or 3 tsp fresh thyme leaves)
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper (Note 2)
- 1 tsp white pepper (or 1/2 tsp black pepper)
- 1 1/2 cups potatoes , cut into 1.2cm / 1/2" cubes
- 28 oz / 800g canned chickpeas (2 x 14oz/400g) , drained
- 14 oz / 400g canned diced tomatoes (Note 3)
- 2 cups vegetable or chicken broth/stock
- 2 scallion/shallot stems , sliced (green & white part)
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley , finely chopped (plus more for garnish) (Note 4)
- Salt to taste
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Heat oil in a large pot or very deep skillet over medium high heat.
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Add the Flavour Base ingredients and cook for 3 minutes until the onion is translucent.
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Add the potatoes and cook for a further 2 minutes. If the spices start to stick to the bottom of the pot, add a tiny splash of water.
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Add the chickpeas, tomatoes and vegetable or chicken broth. 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.
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Adjust salt to taste, stir through scallions/shallots and parsley.
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Serve with rice.
1. I omitted Nutmeg once and the flavour was still lovely. Could not actually tell it was missing.
2. The original recipe called for 1 scotch bonnet or habanero pepper, finely chopped, to be added to the curry once the liquids have been added. I don't know where to get these chilis where I live (Sydney, Australia) so I just used cayenne pepper instead for heat. I doubt that the flavour has been impacted very much.
3. 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.
4. Though the original recipe calls for parsley, I often make this with coriander (fresh) because it goes so well with curry!
5. This can be made with any curry powder you have / want. Curry powders differ in spiciness so if you are using a spicy one, adjust the quantity to taste! I use Clives of Indian Curry Powder (sold at Woolworths and Coles in Australia) which is quite mild. I do also use the Clives of India Hot Madras Curry Powder - when I feel like making it extra spicy!! Adjust the curry powder to your taste depending on how spicy you like your curries!
Made this tonight and used a can of coconut milk instead of broth… so delicious!!
Made this tonight and used a can of coconut milk instead of broth… so delicious!
Thank you Nagi. I love this curry. I have it regularly. Best wishes from Galway, Ireland.
This is a nice curry with perfect texture. However, it is very spicy. I do not often use cayenne pepper and was unaware of how much heat it adds to this dish. I would cut down on the cayenne next time and perhaps reduce the allspice proportionately. I added some vegan cream cheese to try to cut the spice, which didn’t do much but added a lovely creamy quality to this curry. I also pre-boiled the cubed potatoes to ensure they were super soft by the time I served the dish.
What a simple but brilliant idea!! Thank you so much for the inspo! I have pinned the recipe so I can make it soon! x
Hope you do! It’s soo delish! N x
Made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! Thank you.
I made this today and it was fantastic! I think it’s one of the most tasty dishes I’ve ever made. Loved the flavor! Thanks for sharing!
Wonderful! So glad you enjoyed this Shawn! N x
wonderful points altogether, you just gained a new reader. What would you suggest about your post that you made some days ago? Any positive?
Hey Nag! I don’t know who to thank most, you or Imma? But, I do know one thing THIS RECIPE IS A KEEPER! We ate our dinner so fast I thought we inhaled it. HAHA… Can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
Love hearing that Grace! So pleased you enjoyed this 🙂 N x
I just made this recipe and it was amazing!!! I didn’t want to stop eating it. My husband loved it just as much as I did!! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
So pleased to hear that Danielle! Thanks for letting me know 🙂 N x
This is amazing!! My boyfriend is super picky and request this dish all the time!! Thanks for sharing!
So pleased to hear he enjoys this Teresa, thanks for taking the time to come back and let me know! N xx
Hi Nagi, A few suggestions based on the comments and my own experience making this last night:
1. If you don’t like spicy then I would suggest that you cut the cayenne to about 1/4 tsp, reduce the white/black pepper in half and reduce the allspice in half. I found that even with 1/4 tsp of cayenne being the only adjustment this was too spicy but it tasted like the allspice was the one taking over. I’m not sure if this was a caused by the variety or freshness of my allspice or if the original blooming of the spices with the onion increased the heat. I felt that 3 minutes was not long enough to get my onion to the right doneness so I cooked a little longer.
2. Not wanting to wait for 2 cups of broth to reduce, I used a vegetable broth paste instead. This allowed me to add the tsp of veg broth paste but only add 1C of water to go with it. I found this to be just enough water to simmer the potatoes (covered). When finished cooking, I added a tsp of flour to thicken rather than continue reducing.
3. I used 1c of fresh parsley instead of cilantro, I had both but opted for the parsley. I think using fresh matters here to also cut the heat. If you find a the end that it’s still to spicy, you can try adding yogurt or cottage cheese (before adding the parsley/cilantro) to lessen the heat.
Thank you for the recipe. As with most, each cook needs to adjust to their personal taste but I am always grateful for the inspiration that gets me started. Meatless dishes always pose a challenge for me but I found this one to be quite filling.
I meant to say add the 2 tsp of veg broth paste in number 2.
Love all those tips James! thanks so much for that 🙂 Other readers will find it so helpful! N xx
Hi! I just made this dish today, it turned out very spicy, probably because I added and extra chili pepper 😉 Not complaining, I like spice! However, the sauce was light orange and not as thick as the picture, do you know why this might be? I also had to let it simmer for 30min for the potatoes to soften.
Hi Snuff! The colour is from the spices, and also from cooking down the sauce 🙂 did you simmer per recipe to cook it down? Glad you enjoyed it though! N x
chickpea curry was delish
That’s so great to hear Graham! Thank you for letting me know you enjoyed it! N x
Do you think coconut milk would work in this to cut through the spice?
Hi Klair! I don’t think it will cut through the spice but it will certainly add lovely flavour to it! This curry really is not that spicy if you use a mild curry powder. I added a tip at the top of the recipe regarding the spiciness 🙂 N x
This is a lovely curry but way too spicy so I would definitely cut down on the spices😳 Then it would be great .
I’m sorry to hear you thought this was too spicy Alison. Glad you loved the flavour though!
Very easy and delicious. However, it is very spicy! Use a mild curry. Also, the potatoes take about 40 min, not 15 min. I thought the 15 min instruction was a little off and I was right!
Hi Jess! Yes! Definitely use a mild curry if you are sensitive to spicy food! I’m glad you still enjoyed it. Thank you for picking up about the cook time, I will fix it up 🙂
Hi Jess! I just checked the recipe again and the potatoes should cook in 15 minutes if chopped fairly small, per recipe 🙂 I wonder if it was the type of potato you used?? 🙂
What kind of potato should we be using?
In all honesty, this is great with any type wether starchy or waxy 🙂 I tend to use good all rounders