Easy Chickpea Curry with Potato (Chana Aloo Curry)
Recipe video above. A Caribbean curry from Trinidad that tastes very similar to tomato based Indian curries. This curry has incredible flavour, and is one of the easiest real curries because you won't need to trek to the speciality store for the spices, you can get everything from the supermarket! Spice level: Medium (Note 1)
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time25 minutesmins
Total Time40 minutesmins
Course: Curry, Dinner
Cuisine: Caribbean, Trinidad
Keyword: Chickpea curry, easy curry recipe
Servings: 5
Calories: 248cal
Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats
Ingredients
Spices (Note 2):
2tbspcurry powder(Note 3)
1tspAll Spice powder
1tspnutmeg powder(or 1/2 tsp freshly grated)
1 1/2tspsmoked paprika(or normal or sweet)
2tspdried thyme leaves(or 3 tsp fresh)
1tspcumin powder
3/4tspcayenne pepper
1tspwhite pepper(or 1/2 tsp black pepper)
Curry
3 tbsp (65ml)cooking oil(I used vegetable)
2large garlic cloves, minced
1large onion, diced (brown, white, yellow)
1 1/2 cups (225g)potatoes, cut into 1.2cm / 1/2" cubes
28 oz / 800gcanned chickpeas (2 x 14oz/400g cans), drained (Note 3)
14 oz / 400gcanned crushed tomatoes
2 cups (500ml)vegetable or chicken broth/stock
2scallion/shallot stems, sliced (green & white part)
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.
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.
Adjust salt to taste, stir through scallions/shallots and parsley.
1. Spiciness: If you use a mild rather than super hot curry powder, this recipe has a medium level of curry because then the spiciness is coming from the cayenne and white pepper. If you are concerned about the spiciness, mix the spices together without the cayenne pepper, then do a taste test before adding into the pot.3. 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.3. Curry Powder: This can be made with any 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. Note: Curry powders differ in spiciness! Only use HOT if you can handle the heat!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).