Slow-Cooker Recipe: Curried Vegetable and Chickpea Stew

This is a great clearing-out-the-fridge recipe. You can add or substitute any number of vegetables - carrots, parsnips, turnips, and swiss chard would do particularly well. For a spicier dish, add another chili!

Since this makes such a large batch, you can freeze what you don't think you'll eat in a week. Just freeze it before adding the coconut milk since this has a tendency to separate once frozen.

This recipe is also easily replicated in a dutch oven. Pre-heat your oven to 350-degrees and do all the steps in you dutch oven. Cover and cook for two hours or until the vegetables are tender.

Curried Vegetable and Chickpea Stew
Serves 8 - 10

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 all-purpose potatoes, peeled and diced
1 Tablespoon salt
1 Tablespoon curry powder
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon ginger, peeled and grated
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno chili (or other hot chili), seeded and minced
2 cups vegetable broth
2 (16-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 medium head of cauliflower, cut into bite-sized florets
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes with their juices
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
10-ounces baby spinach
1 cup coconut milk

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sauté the onion with one teaspoon of salt until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the potatoes and another teaspoon of salt, and sauté until just translucent around the edges.

Stir in the curry, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, and chili and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour in 1/4 cup of broth and scrape the bottom of the pan to deglaze. Pour this onion-potato mixture into the bowl of your slow cooker.

To the slow-cooker, add the rest of the broth, chickpeas, bell pepper, cauliflower, tomatoes with their juices, the pepper, and the final teaspoon of salt. Stir to combine. The liquid should come half-way up the sides of the bowl; add more broth as necessary. Cover and cook for 4 hours on HIGH.

Stir in the spinach and coconut milk. Cover with lid for 1 minute to allow the spinach to wilt. Taste and adjust salt and other seasonings as needed.

Serve on its own or over cous cous, Israeli cous cous, or orzo pasta.

(Image: Emma Christensen for the Kitchn)

this is the recipe I have been looking for since last fall! So glad something like this came up~

posted by spiralcma on October 24th 2008 at 12:08pm
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Yes, I really appreciate any slow cooker recipe that doesn't include "add mushroom/chicken condensed soup!" More like this, please. :-)

posted by Orchid64 on October 24th 2008 at 2:47pm
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this sounds so delicious.

posted by brand-eye on October 26th 2008 at 7:39am
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Mmm, this sounds soooo good right now.

posted by jamiealyse on October 26th 2008 at 8:50am
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I hope The Kitchn keeps posting these slow cooker recipes! It's hard to find recipes online that I trust will be good...this looks delicious! Anyone have any recommendations for good slow cooker recipe sites or books?

posted by splim on October 26th 2008 at 4:20pm
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This looks really good, but I have a question. What could you use in place of the curry powder. I really dislike the taste of curry powder. Not sure why, every few years I try things with curry powder or curry spice in them and I always hate the taste. Anyway, any suggestions for a substitute?

posted by billc124 on October 27th 2008 at 9:54am
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Yeah--if anyone knows of a great slow cooker site, I'd love to know too.

Here's one from a woman cooking for an entire year out of slow cookers:
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

I've had good luck with Williams-Sonoma's "Slow Cooker" book (in the "Food Made Fast" series, 2006). (It is cream of mushroom soup free.) The recipes for Turkey Mole and Indonesian Beef Stew are great.

I'm a big fan of a whole chicken in the slow cooker, some mushrooms, lemon, garlic, potatoes...delicious.

posted by mollyk on October 28th 2008 at 8:46am
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I am a poor Grad Student - a batchelor living in a small batchelor pad. I made this this past week and it was SO GOOD. And actually really easy! I froze half of it so I'm looking forward to serving it to some friends one night over cous cous.
:)

posted by EMC on November 5th 2008 at 6:47am
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I gave this a try this evening and was surprised at how good it is. It's the best homemade soup I've ever made which didn't include some sort of puree to thicken and enhance it. I used a dried red chili (such as is common in Chinese cooking) and chopped it into 3 pieces and skipped the cauliflower, and it was fabulous.

This is a great way to incorporate vegetables into your diet as well as to make a cheap meal.

posted by Orchid64 on March 15th 2009 at 5:42am
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Wow...this was completely delicious! I was really worried when I tasted it after 4 hours, and then I realized I had forgotten the coconut milk and spinach. With those added it was a completely different dish. It did need 5 hours on high to cook the potatoes, so make sure you cook them enough in the first step. SO GOOD over Israeli Couscous or rice, and so vegetably and healthy. Yum.

posted by ssssasha on October 5th 2009 at 11:12pm
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is there any way to cook this in something other than a slowcooker? it sounds delicious but i don't have one.

posted by alona on October 19th 2009 at 11:44am
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never mind! i didn't read through carefully and just realized i can cook it in my dutch oven! that's what i'm doing tonight. thanks!

posted by alona on October 19th 2009 at 11:45am
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