Chickpea and potato curry
Tender potatoes and chickpeas in a gently spiced tomato and onion gravy, a North Indian home-style curry that’s even better the next day.
- 50 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $1.65 a serving
- 450 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 2 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into ¾-inch cubes
- 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can diced tomatoes, 14.5 oz
- 2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped (optional)
- ½ cup plain yogurt, for serving (optional)
From your pantry
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp paprika
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1½ cups water
- 1½ tsp salt
Each serving has about 450 calories, 17 g protein, 65 g carbs and 15 g fat, and costs about $1.65 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No russet potatoes? Yukon gold potatoes work.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No diced tomatoes? Crushed tomatoes work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
- No plain yogurt? Plain greek yogurt works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the potatoes and cut them into ¾-inch . the onion and the garlic.
Peel. Peeling means removing the skin with a vegetable peeler or a small knife. It takes off tough or bitter skins, though potato and carrot skins are fine to leave on unless the recipe insists.
How you’ll know: The color underneath is even all over, with no patches of skin left behind.
Cube. Cubing means cutting food into chunky, even squares, usually three quarters of an inch to an inch. Same-size cubes cook at the same speed and brown on every side.
How you’ll know: Your pieces look like a handful of sugar cubes, a little bigger than diced, all close to the same size.
Finely chop. Finely chopping means cutting food into small pieces, a little bigger than minced, about the size of a lentil. Small pieces spread their flavor through the dish and cook quickly.
How you’ll know: Nothing is bigger than a lentil, and the pile looks like confetti rather than paste.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Dolly’s tip: Curl the fingertips of your holding hand under, like a claw. The knife slides past your knuckles, not your fingertips.Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, 8 to 10 minutes, until .
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium heatTimer: 9 min
Dolly’s tip: Golden onion is where the depth comes from, so give it the full time.Stir in the garlic, ginger, cumin, turmeric, paprika, cayenne and cinnamon and cook 1 minute, .
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heat
Dolly’s tip: If the spices start to stick, add a tablespoon of water and keep stirring.Add the tomatoes with their juice and cook, stirring and mashing with your spoon, 5 minutes, until thick and jammy.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min
Add the potatoes, chickpeas, 1½ cups water and the salt and over high heat.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Cover, turn the heat to low and 20 to 25 minutes, stirring now and then, until the potatoes are tender when poked with a knife.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 22 min
Mash a few pieces of potato against the side of the pot to the sauce. Taste and add salt if it needs it.
Thicken. Thickening means cooking a sauce or soup until it’s less runny, by simmering it down or adding something like cornstarch. A thicker sauce clings to food instead of pooling on the plate.
How you’ll know: It coats the back of a spoon, and a line drawn through it with your finger holds its shape.
Serve in bowls with cilantro and a spoonful of yogurt, with rice or warm bread if you have some.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
