Name: VEGAN TRINIDADIAN CHANA AND ALOO CURRY
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 45 min
Cuisine: Trinidadian
Ingredients: 2 15-oz cans of chickpeas, drained (3 cups); Water; 1 cup culantro (or substitute 1 1/2 cup cilantro), roughly chopped, plus more for garnish; 5 garlic cloves, minced; 2 Tbsp Trini curry powder (such as Chief’s or Lalla’s, or substitute Madras curry powder); 1/4 tsp ground cumin; Salt; 1/2 to 1 Scotch bonnet pepper, deseeded (or substitute 1/2 to 1 habanero pepper); 2 Tbsp neutral oil (such as vegetable or grapeseed oil); 1 small onion, chopped; 2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and chopped; 2 Tbsp green seasoning (such as Chief’s or Matouk’s); 1 tsp fresh thyme

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Craving a cozy bowl of curry? The island flavors in our Vegan Trinidadian Chana and Aloo Curry are just what the doctor ordered. Meaty chickpeas and tender potatoes swim in a spiced herbal broth of puréed cilantro, aromatics, cumin and Trini curry powder.

If you’re like us, you jump at the chance to add a new curry to your repertoire. This one will not disappoint! And lucky for us, this Trinidadian curry (colloquially known as Trini) is naturally vegan.

This simple one-pot meal is protein rich, nutrient dense, whole foods based and perfect for busy meal prep. It takes just 45 minutes to make! Serve with a piping hot bowl of white rice or roti.

WHAT IS TRINI CHANA ALOO CURRY?

Trini Chana Aloo Curry is a mouthwatering chickpea-and-potato curry. The dish is a riff on a North Indian dish, and while Indian cooking leans heavily on tomatoes and whole spices, Trini Chana Aloo Curry employs fresh herbs and a curry spice blend to build layers of flavor. The herb in question is culantro, a distant cousin of cilantro. Other herbs can include thyme, green onions, and parsley. The Trinidadian curry spice blend—like other Caribbean curry blends—is heavy in earthy turmeric but less fiery than Jamaican curry.

INFLUENCE FROM INDO-TRINIDADIANS

So where does the Indian influence come in? A former British colony, Trinidad’s early economy was built around cotton and sugar production, which depended on slave labor. However, the slave trade was abolished in the early 19th century. As a result, indentured Indian laborers were brought to the island colony to work the plantations from 1845 until 1917.

Today, Indo-Trinidadians make up roughly 40 percent of Trinidad’s population, and their culinary influence can be seen in many popular Trini dishes like Chana Aloo Curry and Doubles. In fact, chana means chickpeas and aloo means potato in Hindi. Indians do not use spice blends in their cookery, but like their British colonizers and their Madras curry powder, Trinidadians developed their own curry spicy blend to approximate Indian flavors. This curry spice blend forms the flavor base of Trini Chana Aloo Curry.

INGREDIENTS

Chickpeas: the protein source in this curry.
Water: to soak the chickpeas, make the curry paste, and act as the base of the curry broth (aka gravy).
Culantro: the herbal flavor backbone of this curry. Culantro is a distant cousin of cilantro. It smells like cilantro but has a more pungent, earthy flavor and a coarser texture. The herb is widely used in Caribbean, and to a lesser extent, Southeast Asian cooking. Find it in a Hispanic, Caribbean or Asian grocery store. You can also substitute it with 1 1/2 cups of cilantro.
Trini curry powder (we use Chief’s): this aromatic turmeric-heavy curry blend serves as another flavor backbone for our gravy. Find it in a Hispanic or Caribbean grocery store, or online.
Garlic and onion: aromatic elements.
Cumin: adds warm, nutty notes.
Salt: to season our curry.
Scotch bonnet pepper: a close relative of the habanero, and often used in Caribbean and West African cooking, these peppers have a beautiful almost citrusy flavor. You can find these fiery flavor bombs in Hispanic or Caribbean grocery stores, but habaneros make good stand-ins.
Neutral oil (such as vegetable or grape seed oil): to cook our aromatics, curry paste, and potatoes.
Fresh thyme: to pump up the herbiness with bright, citrusy notes.
Green seasoning (we use Chief’s): a puréed powerhouse of flavors consisting of herbs and aromatics. Many Caribbean nations have their own blends. The Trini variety boasts herbs, peppers, onion, ginger, garlic and an acid like citrus or vinegar. Find a bottle of green seasoning in Hispanic or Caribbean grocery stores, or online. If you can’t find it, feel free to omit it; your chana aloo curry will still taste plenty delicious.

HOW TO MAKE THE BEST VEGAN TRINIDADIAN CHANA AND ALOO CURRY

1. Make the curry paste: Purée the culantro, garlic, curry powder, ground cumin, 1/2 cup water and a pinch of salt with 1/2 to 1 whole hot pepper (depending on your spice tolerance) in a food processor or blender until smooth.

2. Cook the curry paste: Meanwhile, heat the oil over medium in the lidded pot. Add the onion, sprinkle with salt to draw out the liquid, and cook until golden brown. Then add the curry paste, cooking until it darkens, becomes fragrant, and separates from the oil, (about 3-5 minutes).

3. Cook the aloo and chana: Add the potatoes and cook for 3 minutes, constantly stirring. Then add the chickpeas, green seasoning and thyme, stirring to prevent them sticking (about 4-5 minutes).

Add 2 cups of water and 1 to 2 tsp salt, to taste. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are fork tender, stirring occasionally (about 20 minutes).

Toward the end of the 20 minutes, gently smash a few potatoes to thicken up the broth. Adjust seasoning. Serve with steamed white rice or roti and garnish with chopped culantro. Enjoy!

Love,

Val & Mani

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