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Published: . Last Updated: by: Ginny McMeans
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This Vegan Chickpea Curry Recipe is made from scratch with very little effort.The thick sauce is made in the slow cooker & then you just spoon it over rice
Are you looking for a recipe that you can put into the slow cooker in the morning and have no fear of it cooking all day long?
That is what this easy to make Vegan Chickpea Curry Recipe will do.
Do check it when you get home and see if you'd like it even more 'saucier'. You can add another cup of water the last hour or two.
That will give it time to cook in and thicken with the rest of the flavors.
When I made this recipe I wanted to make sure it was one that could be made for a person who had to go to work or leave the house for many hours. But ...
If you're going to be around the house and you get a late start in getting this started you can definitely cook it on high for 4 to 5 hours. It will be great too.
In my early years of cooking, I got confused by the word curry. I came across a recipe that didn't even have curry in it. What? Well, it turns out there are different meanings for curry.
Table of Contents
What is Curry?
Curry is a lot of things. It comes in all kinds of shapes and forms.
For this recipe, it is the sauce as in a spicy spiced curry that mixes so well with noodles and rice. No curry included. The curry is actually the sauce.
Curry powder is probably sitting in your cupboard right now. It's made up of many different spices and comes to us in a little jar to help us give depth to our cooking.
You can buy curry pastes in jars and they come as red curry paste and green curry paste. A little bit goes a long way.
There are also small curry cubes that are used in Japanese cooking. Not so spicy but a great addition to sauces.
So you can see there's no reason to ever be confused. You are now armed with the information you need to talk 'foodie'.
Do You Have to Use Oil in Sautéing?
This brings me to another quandary in the cooking world. Sautéing!
I almost always sauté my onions in oil. You don't have to though. If you're skipping oil for some reason you can actually sauté in water. Even another liquid such as vegetable broth.
You don't want to boil the onion though so just a little bit to get them started and then add a drop along the way if needed.
Mushrooms aren't in this recipe but they are even easier at sautéing with no oil as they release so much water as they're cooking.
Doesn't that look good? I just remembered I've got another chickpea curry recipe on the blog. It's actually a Vegetable Curry though as it has many other vegetables included.
It's also a super fast recipe. Just 30 minutes. But that's for another day.
Helpful Tools:
6 Qt. Programmable Slow Cooker - this makes working life even easier. It can turn off on time and it's still safe to let dinner sit in the crockpot a little longer.
Garlic Press - I can never find mine so I end up chopping my garlic a lot but this press sure is great when I can get my hands on it.
Measuring Spoons - I like the strong stainless steel ones the best.
It's that easy. As you know it's the simple things in life that make everything better.
Since this slow cooker, chickpea curry recipe makes such a large quantity you may be lucky enough to have leftovers.
FREEZING:
Go ahead and freeze any that you have left. If you have extra rice freeze it too. Freeze separately though and that would give you more options for the future.
You might want to serve the slow cooker chickpea recipe over noodles next time and maybe use the rice with a coconut cream based curry. Those are delicious too.
📋 Recipe
Slow Cooker Chickpea Curry Recipe
Ginny McMeans
Slow Cooker Chickpea Curry Recipe is made from scratch with very little effort.
4.68 from 43 votes
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Prep Time 15 minutes mins
Cook Time 8 hours hrs
Total Time 8 hours hrs 15 minutes mins
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Beans, Slow Cooker
Servings 6 Servings
Calories 363 kcal
Ingredients
- 16 ounces chickpeas, dried
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 ½ cup onion, diced
- 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped or minced
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 2 cups tomatoes, diced
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
- 1 ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda - this helps chickpeas to soften when cooking, just ¼ tsp.
- 3 cups water
Instructions
The night before place the chickpeas in a 6 to 8 quart slow cooker and cover with water to soak. Do NOT turn it on. In the morning drain and replace the chickpeas in the slow cooker.
In a large skillet heat the oil over medium high heat.
Add onion and saute for 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 5 more minutes.
Scrape into the slow cooker.
Add all of the remaining ingredients and stir well.
Cook on low 8 to 9 hours. Serve with Basmati rice.
Video
Notes
If you would like more 'liquid in your sauce you can add a 14 oz. can of full fat coconut milk. It's not necessary but some people like more with the rice.
Nutrition
Serving: 1ServingCalories: 363kcalCarbohydrates: 60gProtein: 17gFat: 7gSodium: 270mgPotassium: 1145mgFiber: 16gSugar: 14gVitamin A: 695IUVitamin C: 17.4mgCalcium: 148mgIron: 7.9mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
More Main Dish
- Vegan Baked Potato Soup Recipe
- Vegan Carbonara
- Vegan Empanadas Recipe
- Vegan Thai Stir Fry with Baby Corn
Reader Interactions
Comments
Emily | OatandSesame
I wish I owned a slow cooker just for this recipe! They are such a great tool! And my love for chickpeas is neverending - I'll just have to slow cook this on my stove when I have some time. Looks great!Kim Beaulieu
This looks incredible. I have never had curry. I know, right. So weird. I need to give this try!!Edyta at Innocent Delight
Oh gosh, I love chickpea curry. Yours looks absolutely fantastic.Allison Mattina
I've never attempted chickpeas in the slow cooker before. This would be a delicious meatless Monday dish!Sandi
I love this vegan curry...it is perfect since my husband and I are trying to eat less meat.Siw
Thank you for this fantastic recipe & for talking me into buying a slow cooker, a Crock Pot, just like the one you use <3 Can't thank you enough for that - my cooking life will get so much easier to handle from now ow <3
Ginny McMeans
Oh, you're going to love it Siw. Please ask any questions - any time! Have fun!
Liam
This looks yummny and I can't wait to try but I need to know how much dried chick peas to use.
It is 16oz as in a pound or 16floz as in ~2 cups?Ginny McMeans
16 ounces as in the pound. As a bag comes Liam. Thanks!
Siw
How I love this chickpea curry - it tastes deliscious <3 One question; if too much water/liquid is added, is it possible to cook on hi instead od low? If so, what time would be proper ? Or should I add some baking soda ??? Or maybe flour? Again, I love this curry <3
Ginny McMeans
Thank you so much Siw. If you are going to be around to watch that it doesn't cook too low you can leave the lid off and cook on hi. The liquid will cook down as it would on a stovetop. It could burn if it cooks too low so that's why I say to be around if you take this step. Cooking on hi with the lid on wouldn't help. It would just be done faster with the liquid still there. It actually might be okay with some extra liquid anyway. It might come out with more sauce. Depends on how much liquid.
T Hobson
Im not a vegan but Im tempted by this dish... I think Ill give it a whiz... Thank you for sharing 🙂
Ginny McMeans
I'm so glad and think you're going to love it!
Natalie
Is each serving 363 calories with or without rice?
Ginny McMeans
Without rice Natalie.
Natalie
Thanks for the calorie info! I just made this recipe for my lunches this week and it’s incredible! I reduced the cayenne to about a half teaspoon though since I’m a wuss ?Ginny McMeans
hahaha Natalie! I have wimpy days too. 🙂 So glad you made it for your lunches!
Jeannette
Can you use canned chickpeas?
Ginny McMeans
Yes, you can Jeanette, You won't need to cook them that long though. 4 to 6 hours will be plenty.
Mabel
Out of curiosity, did you recently add coconut milk as an ingredient? I was looking at this recipe and I think i cooked this without coconut milk and it still turned out great!
Ginny McMeans
OMG Mabel, great memory! I did and I forgot to add that in the information. I will go and update now. I took it out of the recipe and added it in the notes as an option. Also, ground ginger would be good in it too, about 1 teaspoon. You can absolutely do it either way.
Cherie Criswell
Will this recipe work with canned chickpeas?
Ginny McMeans
Yes, Cherie! You won't need all of that cooking time though. 3 to 4 hours will be plenty. Just taste it and make sure it's nice and hot.
Richelle Gray
This was great. Easy to make and lots of flavor. We had couscous so we put it on top of that. The next day, we had it with the basmati rice. It freezes well too.Sarah
This was fantastic, and so easy! I prepped everything the night; I even cooked the onions/garlic, then refrigerated them overnight, and it still tasted delicious. I will probably reduce the cayenne next time, as it was a bit spicy for my 9-year-old, but he still ate all of it and said it was great. Thanks for the recipe!
