One Pot Chickpea Curry Chana Aloo

This meatless curry is rich in protein, fiber, good carbs and is super healthy. This fabulous Chickpea Curry is gluten-free and Vegan too. We eat curries frequently at home. It never occurred to me to share Indian curry recipes on the blog, until I got requests from my readers. I will be sharing quite a few Indian recipes frequently. And after seeing the request I thought why not? I will be sharing a few easy Indian Curry recipes which don’t need any special spices or elaborate preparation. I have a few more chickpea curries on the site. While this Chana Aloo recipe is cooked in a dutch oven, I have Sweet Potato Chickpea Curry done in an Instant Pot and a Chickpea Sausage Stew prepared in a crockpot (Slow Cooker). Another method of cooking chickpeas when you are short of time or you forgot to soak ahead is to soak chickpeas in medium-hot water and let them soak covered for 1 – 1.5 hours. Then cook in a pressure cooker or Instant Pot. On the other hand, canned chickpeas come really handy when you are in a hurry. So dry or canned chickpea both work in this recipe. In Indian cooking, Garam masala is often used. If you don’t have access to a good garam masala, do not worry. There is a very handy substitute for this. And when you use this substitute, you do not have to use coriander or cumin powder either. That substitute is Curry Powder. Substitute all three ingredients – garam masala, coriander powder, and cumin powder with curry powder. Curry powder comes in different intensities of spice like hot, mild, etc. So you need to adjust the quantity as per your spice tolerance. Another ingredient used in Indian curries is dried fenugreek or Kasuri Methi. It adds a lot of flavor to the dish, if you don’t get it then you can certainly skip it.

Saute onion, ginger, garlic until fragrant. Then add tomatoes and cook again until the tomato is soft and mushy. After adding the dry spices, saute further until the entire mixture comes together and the oil starts to separate. These two steps help to bring out the flavours and also thickens the curry. Roasting potatoes for a while before adding chickpeas is optional and you can skip it.

Even roti, paratha, or naan (Indian flatbread) is commonly had with chana aloo. You will enjoy scooping the curry with pieces of naan.

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You can easily double the recipe and make a big batch of it. It’s a great dish to make ahead and refrigerate. In fact, it develops flavor and tastes even better the next day.