Curry Chana and Potato with Dumplings

Curry Chana and Potato with Dumplings is from my country Trinidad and Tobago.

I loved curry crab and dumplings when I lived there. Now that I’m vegan, I still wanted to eat my culture’s food, but veganized.

This recipe is for a family of five (my husband and I have three kids), so please edit as you see fit.

Note: 

1. 1. I buy dry chickpeas and pressure cook them; not only is it healthier than canned beans, it’s also cost-effective.
2. 2. Wash and soak chickpeas overnight about 8 cups (follow package instructions).
3. 3. The brand of curry I use is Chief Curry Powder.
4. 4. You can add any vegetables you’d like to this dish, we usually add roasted carrots or broccoli.

Curry Chana and Potato Ingredients:

1 bag of chickpeas

2 big potatoes (russet or red) chopped in small cubes

1/2 cup of curry powder

1/2 of a big yellow onion chopped

2 tsp of cumin

1 tbsp of salt (or to your taste)

2 tsp of black pepper

optional: 

1 scotch bonnet pepper or 2 dashes of red pepper flakes

1 tbsp of olive oil

Dumplings Ingredients:

4 cups of flour

1-3 cups of water

1 tsp of salt

1 tsp of sugar

Curry Channa and Potato Directions

1. 1.Heat pressure cooker on medium heat, add oil and heat for 30 seconds, add onion and saute until onion is translucent.
2. 2.Add cumin, salt, pepper, and curry powder, stir until everything is stuck together.
3. 3.Pour soaking chickpeas (water included) and potatoes into a pressure cooker. 
4. 4.Stir intermittently for 5 minutes, then lock the pressure cooker for 1 hour. (Follow your pressure cooker directions.)
5. 5.If you’re using canned chickpeas, use a big pot. Pour chickpeas (with Aquafaba) and cover pot to cook for about 30-45 minutes.
6. 6.Check chickpeas, if still hard, cover and cook for 15-30 minutes; if soft, leave uncovered, add scotch bonnet or red pepper flakes and let simmer for about 10 minutes.

Dumplings

1. 1.Sift flour in a big bowl, add salt and sugar. Mix well.
2. 2.Make a hole in the middle of the bowl, pushing the mix to the side of the bowl.
3. 3.Add 1 cup of water, then stir in mixture. If the dough is still dry, add in more water, 1/2 cup at a time. Dough should be semi sticky and not leave much residue on hands.  If sticky, add more flour.
4. 4.Make dough into a ball. On a flat surface, sift a little flour so you can roll dumplings.
5. 5.Take small pieces from dough and make small balls. Let sit, while you boil a big pot of water with a tsp of oil and salt.
6. 6.Once water is boiling, flatten 5 dumplings (should be a circle that is about 4 inches in diameter) and add to the pot (depending on your pot, you can add more or less). Boil for 10 minutes. (If you poke a fork through the dumpling and there’s nothing on the fork, dumplings are cooked.)
7. 7.Use a plate with a colander on it and a tong to take the dumplings out, run cold water over dumplings, then set aside.
8. 8.Add the next 5 dumplings into the pot and repeat until all the dumplings are done cooking.
9. 9.Add 3-4 dumplings on a plate, and pour 2-3 (pot) spoons of curry channa and potato.
10. 10.Enjoy!