Crockpot Chickpea Curry
Crockpot Chickpea Curry Recipe – Try this easy vegetarian slow cooker chickpea curry recipe that is gluten-free and can be prepared dairy-free, too!
Why We Love This Indian Vegetarian Curry
In my younger years, I had the opportunity to spend three separate summers in India.
On my third trip, I spent a summer working in a small village in central India.
Nowadays many Indian cities are thriving urban areas, mingling colorful history with a modern flair. However, most often, rural India lives on as their ancestors in small villages with dirt roads, thatched roofs, and, open-air communal buildings.
In our little village, we cooked most of our meals over camping stoves. Yet the generosity of the Indian people opened the doors for many meals to be shared with our short-term neighbors.
Due to India’s caste system, many of our neighbors were vegetarian. I was always awestruck by the array or legume and egg-based curry dishes we were served at any given meal. Always with a heaping pile of fragrant basmati rice and a stack of steaming chapatis (flat tortilla-like bread.)
Indian Chickpea Curry
I actually had an impromptu cooking lesson, on several occasions, when a kindly granny would take me under her wing for the evening.
Once I learned to make chapatis sitting on a dirt floor, over a small stone table. Another time, I learned to make a classic chickpea curry dish in a hanging ceramic vessel over a campfire.
This Crockpot Chickpea Curry Recipe is a nod to the bright yellow aromatic chickpea curry I learned to make so many years ago.
The fragrant silky sauce is the perfect complement to the hearty chickpeas and sweet potatoes. Served over rice and scooped up with fresh naan, this satisfying and healthy meal is absolute comfort food.
Ingredients You Need
I simplified the recipe to reduce the necessary ingredients by almost half, yet retain the same intense flavors of traditional Indian curries.
Here are some of the things you’ll need to make this amazing easy, gluten-free Slow Cooker Chickpea Curry:
- Honey – To offer a touch of sweetness to offset the spices. (Use agave for a vegan version.)
- Fresh Ginger – For a punch of spicy-sweet flavor.
- Garam Masala – A classic blend of popular spices used in India.
- Ground Turmeric – To offer bold color and depth of flavor.
- Ground Cumin – For a peppery smoky essence.
- Chickpeas – The base of the curry.
- Heavy Cream – Or, use full-fat coconut milk for a vegan version.
- Sweet Potatoes – To balance the flavor and texture of the chickpeas.
How to Make Crockpot Chickpea Curry
Making Chickpea Curry in the Slow Cooker allows you to prep very little, then set-and-forget this vegetarian dinner until much later in the day.
- First, add the oil to a skillet and place over medium heat. Sautee the diced onions, minced garlic, and fresh grated ginger together until soft, then remove from heat.
- Place the onion mixture in the blender, along with the heavy cream or coconut milk, all of the spices, honey, and salt. Cover and puree until smooth.
- Pour the curry blend into the slow cooker, then add the chickpeas and chopped sweet potato. Mix well. Place the lid on the slow cooker, and turn on HIGH for 4-5 hours or LOW for 6-8 hours.
Once the sweet potatoes are fork-tender, serve the chickpea curry warm with a bit of fresh cilantro on top if you like.
Crockpot Chickpea Curry is fabulous and still completely gluten-free served over basmati rice.
It also makes a wonderful Indian-style filling for (not gluten-free) warm naan and chapatis!
Get the Complete (Printable) Crockpot Chickpea Curry Recipe Below. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
Is This Chickpea Curry Recipe Good For Making Ahead?
Yes, this dish is delicious as leftovers for healthy lunches or quick prepped dinners! Stored in an airtight container in the fridge, vegetarian or vegan Crockpot Chickpea Curry will keep well for up to 4-5 days.
Because of the dairy or cream consistently of coconut milk, I do not recommend freezing.
Can I Make This Crockpot Curry Recipe with Chicken?
You can certainly add chicken to this curry. For the most tender chicken, I recommend using boneless skinless thighs.
The cooking time will remain the same, but be sure that the chicken pieces are completely covered by the curry liquid to prevent them from drying out.
Slow Cooker Chicken Curry will keep well in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Can I Make Vegan Chickpea Curry?
Absolutely! Make a coconut chickpea curry that is just as creamy and delicious, but also vegan! Simply replace the heavy cream with unsweetened canned coconut milk. It is important to use the canned kind that is full fat. This will add lots of flavor and creaminess! You can also swap the honey for agave if you don’t eat honey!
Looking for More Flavorful Curry Recipes? Be Sure to Also Try:
- Thai Red Curry Grilled Chicken Salad
- Perfect Instant Pot Butter Chicken Curry
- Green Curry Coconut Crusted Baked Salmon
- Slow Cooker Potato Curry
- The Best Thai Panang Chicken Curry
- Green Curry Chicken Noodle Soup
- Slow Cooker Basil Chicken in Coconut Curry Sauce – The Food Charlatan
- Chicken Snow Pea Green Curry – Nutmeg Nanny
- Thai Curried Salmon – Foodie Crush
Check the printable recipe card below for the prep time, cook time, total time, and nutrition information. Make sure to share this recipe on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!
Crockpot Chickpea Curry Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream (or 13 ounce can thick unsweetened coconut milk)
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
- 28 ounces chickpeas, drained (2 cans)
- 3 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
Instructions
- Add the oil to a skillet and place over medium heat. Sautee the onions, garlic, and ginger until soft, 3-5 minutes, then remove from heat.
- Place the onion mixture in the blender, along with the cream (or coconut milk,) all spices, honey, and 1 teaspoon salt. Cover and puree until smooth.
- Pour the curry blend into the slow cooker, then add the chickpeas and chopped sweet potato. Mix well. Place the lid on the slow cooker, and turn on high for 4-5 hours or low for 6-8 hours.
- Once the sweet potatoes are soft, serve warm over basmati rice or with Indian style flatbread (naan or chapatis.)
Looking forward to making this recipe. Have you tried it with dry chickpeas instead of canned? Is the cook time the same?
We added some precooked chicken about an hour before serving. Also, I don’t have the knife skills to dice sweet potatoes, so instead of 3 cups, I used 3 whole sweet potatoes roughly cubed. Because of the additional sweet potatoes soaking up the sauce, next time, we will use 2 cups of cream instead of 1.5 cups. Amazing recipe. We will make it often!
Just finished eating this with basmati rice lol!
I made the sauce exactly to the recipe. I used mushrooms instead of sweet potato. I LOVE it! Halfway through cooking I added more spice to the sauce, plus a tablespoon of curry powder (next time I will just add more spice and curry powder at the beginning).
This sauce is the perfect base for vegetable curry, and also for fish curry if you add fish stock/seasoning.
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I love this! Thank you so much for posting it. I’ve made it several times. I’ve substituted other vegetables for the sweet potatoes, which I don’t typically have in the house. I found that chopped fresh tomatoes worked well (I used 2).
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Absolutely delicious, easy and cheap, definitely a winter warmer
I made this for dinner tonight. I substituted butternut squash for a bunch of the sweet potato, but made everything else to the recipe using coconut milk. I also added cooked chicken breast during serving to further increase the protein. It was amazing. I’m full and I still want to go down to the fridge and get more. Thank you for a truly fantastic and easy recipe!
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Hi Laura,
Heavy cream is just a little thicker than whipping cream. However, you really could use either one. :)
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The best meal and recipe, keep making more!
I feel like I should leave a review, since I’ve been making your curry for a couple years now, probably averaging 2x per month. I consider it one of my “signature dishes” since it gets requested the most often. It’s such a great recipe to branch out with. I’ve made so many versions, while keeping the curry the same, as it’s the star of this dish. I always double the ingredients for the curry sauce because it’s so freaking good to eat with rice. Thank you so much for the recipe, it’s been one of my favorite things to cook.
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This curry was perfect. I’m trying to eat less meat and recipes like this make it really easy. Thank you!
This was wonderful. I did 6hrs on low, that was great but 5 probably would have been fine too. I only had 1 can of chickpeas but didn’t want to wait so I substituted cauliflower for the second can and that worked great. I threw about a cup of frozen peas in at the end. The spices and flavor in this recipe are lovely. Without the crushed red pepper it was not too spicy for my mom and kids and my husband added some hot sauce. Thanks so much- I’m so happy to have a go to curry for the slow cooker!
I LOVE the idea of including cauliflower to increase the vegetable content. Did you add the cauliflower toward the end (when you put in the peas) or did you cook the cauliflower the entire time?
Sounds to me like the cauliflower was added at the beginning – depends on the size of the florets I guess? Please update here if you try it with cauliflower!
I added cauliflower to mine, and added it at the beginning. Interestingly, it took longer to cook than the sweet potato!