Easy Vegan Chickpea and Potato Curry

Easy vegan chickpea and potato curry is built for comfort with warming Indian flavors and a quick, spicy as you like it sauce for the best chana aloo curry.

Curry recipes come with varieties of spices, ingredients, flavors, and intentions. This chickpea potato curry features a tomato blender sauce, a combination of toasted and ground spices, aromatic veggies, and the satisfaction of potatoes and chickpeas.

This post contains helpful tips and tricks to make sure you're successful in your first attempt. Below, you'll find a handy table of contents with links. But if you're in a rush, please use the link at the top to jump to the recipe card at the end!

Jump to:

• ⭐Why this recipe works
• 🥘 Ingredients & notes
• 🔪 Pro tips & notes
• 💭 Common Questions
• 🍽 Serving & storage
• 📖 Related recipes
• Recipe

⭐Why this recipe works

If you are looking for a tasty meal that leans into a whole-food, plant-based diet including no added fat (olive oil or lite coconut milk), this is it.

Chana (chickpeas) and aloo (potatoes) curry doesn't shout thrilling chickpea curry recipe or potato curry recipe found here. But add the right combination of special spices and toss in ginger, garlic, and onions. Well then, we're getting to it. Unassuming main ingredients shine with palatable pleasure.

The spicy curry sauce whizzed in the blender or food processor makes the cooking process an easy affair. And with relatively few ingredients to go in the pot, you'll spend most of the time just waiting for the potatoes to get tender.

🥘 Ingredients & notes

Potatoes – Any potatoes work for this recipe. We usually use baby potatoes or thin white potatoes because you don't need to peel them (more fiber, baby). Use can also use peeled sweet potatoes or butternut squash for a change. The type of starchy vegetable you use will impact the cooking time. If you like chunky potatoes, those could take a few more minutes to simmer as well. Good news! It's easy to adjust because we'll be making this on the stovetop.

Chickpeas – cooked chickpeas or garbanzo beans get added at the end of the cooking process. This recipe hasn’t been tested with dry chickpeas, although you can always cook those ahead in the pressure cooker or Instant Pot.

Onions – Dice 1 large onion to enhance the flavor. You can also use red onions. So don't rush out to buy the perfect kind of onion. Use what you have on hand.
Garlic cloves – Use 3- 4 garlic cloves added to the blender. Or add a tablespoon of the prepared stuff.

Fresh ginger – We like this recipe with quite a lot of ginger (1 tablespoon). You can save steps using the prepped stuff.

Fresh chili – If you like your curry on the spicy side, use 2 fresh jalapenos or hot red chilies. For less heat, use a mild green chili or really mellow the flavor with ½ a diced red bell pepper (if that’s handy). If you don’t have fresh chili, use ½ a teaspoon of cayenne pepper or chili powder. For less heat, use ground black pepper.

Tomatoes – Tomatoes and other ingredients are blended to make the sauce before adding them to the curry. For this reason, you can use diced or even whole canned tomatoes packed in juice. Likewise, you can use 4 cups of fresh, diced tomatoes.

Fresh cilantro – Cilantro (coriander) is part of the spicy sauce. Use 1 cup of loosely packed cilantro (leaves and tender stems). If you don't love cilantro, maybe it tastes like soap to you, then leave it out. The sauce may be slightly thinner, but it will cook down as you simmer the potatoes. You can also adjust the amount of water you add.

Cardamom seeds – Crack open 4-5 cardamom pods or use a teaspoon of cardamom seeds (you can buy them as whole seeds). If you aren't using whole cardamom seeds (they do add a bit of crunch), add ½ a teaspoon of ground cardamom to the list of spices for the tomato sauce.

Cumin seeds – Toasted whole spices, cumin seeds, cardamom seeds, a cinnamon stick, and bay leaves start the cooking process. If you opt for ground spices, use a teaspoon of ground cumin (added to the sauce).

Cinnamon stick – A cinnamon stick adds a subtle spicy flavor. If you opt for ground cinnamon, start with ¼ a teaspoon and add it to the tomato sauce.

🔪 Pro tips & notes

Blend the tomato sauce before heating your curry pot and keep it handy. Use a blender, food processor, or immersion blender to blend all the ingredients. Use batches if you're device container is small. The cooking process is rapid once you toast the whole spices. You don't want to stop cooking to blend the sauce.

• Choose a large pan or large saucepan with a heavy bottom if you can. That helps even out the heat and makes dry frying the onions easier. If the onions begin to stick, lower the heat, and add a little water to loosen them up if necessary.

• The key to pro potato chickpea curry is giving the potatoes enough time to cook. It starts with dicing the potatoes into pieces roughly equal in size. If you are in a hurry, cut the pieces smaller. The smaller the potatoes, the quicker they cook.

💭 Common Questions

🍽 Serving & storage

Like many Indian curry recipes, rice makes a tasty side dish for sopping up the sauce. Our preference is brown rice, specifically brown basmati rice; however, jasmine rice or lemon cauliflower rice are tasty choices.

Lemon wedges are an easy and tasty condiment for chickpea curry. A dollop of pineapple chutney or mango chutney also complements this dish. If you want something more substantive, consider veggie pakoras or a nice batch of potato tortillas. Primo!

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator. As the flavor profile develops, you may discover that this curry is even more flavorful the next day. Reheat with ½ a cup of vegetable stock to thin the sauce and keep it from sticking to the pan.

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