Slow Cooker Chana Aloo (Chickpea Potato Curry Masala)

Students, this is an easy and inexpensive dinner to make that is filling, healthy and will give you lots of leftovers.

You can add this to your “meatless Monday” rotation as this recipe is vegetarian and suitable for celiacs or those following a gluten-reduced diet. There is no dairy in this recipe if you serve it without the Raita.

Craving more Indian? Check out the recipe for Butter Chicken.

Prep time: 5 minutes; Cook time: 5 minutes + 6+ hours slow cooking; Serves: 6 – 8

What you need:

• 1 28 oz can of chickpeas, undrained
• 1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes (see note below, if you want it to be slightly thicker, use crushed tomatoes)
• 1 1/2 lb potatoes (I used a bag of red baby potatoes), cut into quarters (or halved so they are roughly the same size)
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 6 cloves of garlic, finely minced or pressed
• 1 tbsp grated ginger (I used jarred minced ginger)
• 1 tbsp Garam Masala (you can also use curry powder, but then it will be more of a curry than a Masala)
• 1 tbsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (you can use 1/2 tsp more if you want it a little hotter)
• 1 cup stock (I used vegetable) (see note below, if you want it to be slightly thicker, use 1/2 cup)
• 1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper (+ more to taste)
• green onion (garnish)
• chopped cilantro (garnish)

What you do:

• In a frypan over medium-high heat, add the oil and when it becomes hot, add the onions

• Stirring, cook for about 3 minutes until the onions start to become soft (My friend Karim’s tip:  cook the onions until they are golden brown, so that they breakdown more during cooking to make the sauce a bit richer)
• Add the garlic and ginger, stir, cooking for about 1 minute

• Add the spices – Garam Masala, turmeric, salt, red pepper flakes and pepper – stir cooking about 1 minute until they become fragrant [Note: they will stick to the bottom of your pan, but don’t worry]

• Turn heat to low
• Add the stock and use it to scrape up all the stuck bits on the bottom of the pan, scrape and cook for 1 – 2 minutes

• In your slow cooker, add the undrained can of chickpeas

• Add the quartered potatoes

• Add the onion/garlic/ginger/spice/stock from the pan

• Add the can of diced tomatoes

• Stir

• Turn slow cooker on to low and cook for at least 6 hours

• Garnish with sliced green onion and cilantro (but no cilantro for you, Pete)

• Serve with rice or naan bread

• Serve with Mango Chutney and Raita (recipes coming soon)

• Enjoy
• NOTE: I like sauce to dip the naan bread in and to soak into the rice, so this isn’t a thick Chana Aloo. Cooking this recipe in a slow cooker will make this slightly thinner than if you did this on the stovetop. If you want this thicker, reduce the stock to 1/2 cup and substitute crushed tomatoes for the diced tomatoes. The recipe as is will also thicken slightly for leftovers.