This is a from-scratch chickpea and potato curry built on a homemade blended curry paste — it takes about an hour total, mostly hands-off simmering, and the only equipment you need is a pan and a hand blender. The 45-minute simmer is non-negotiable: rush it and the potatoes stay hard in the middle.
A tin of chickpeas at Tesco costs 65p. A 400g bag of Maris Piper potatoes is about 70p. A ready-made chickpea curry from the supermarket chilled aisle runs to £2.50–£3.00 for one portion. This recipe makes three full portions — with a proper homemade curry paste — for £1.63 total. That's the comparison that matters.
The total cook time is about an hour, but 45 minutes of that is just simmering on low heat. Active work is maybe 15 minutes: chop an onion, toast some spices, blend the paste. The first time I made this I slightly undercooked the potatoes — they were fine on the outside but still had a hard centre. Second attempt: I let it go the full 45 minutes at a genuine low simmer, not a rushed medium heat. Completely different result.
Blending the fried onion and garlic before adding the dry spices creates a smooth base that coats the chickpeas and potato evenly — you don't get chunks of raw onion sitting in an otherwise smooth sauce. Toasting the cumin seeds and cardamom whole before adding the blended paste releases the essential oils in a way that ground spices added cold simply can't replicate. The long simmer then allows the starch from the potatoes to slightly thicken the sauce naturally, so you don't need any additional thickener.
You might be wondering whether making your own curry paste is actually worth the extra steps. It is — but only because the process is simpler than it sounds. You're blending a softened onion with garlic and then frying dry spices into it; that's not chef-level technique, it's 10 minutes at the hob. The more legitimate question is whether 54p per serving tastes as good as a £3 shop curry. Honestly: it tastes better, and I say that having been fairly sceptical about that claim before I tested it. The fresh-toasted spice makes a noticeable difference.
Full Cost Breakdown
| Ingredient | Amount Used | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Vegetable oil | 3 tbsp | 6p |
| Cumin seeds | 1 tsp | 4p |
| Cardamom pods | 3 pods | 4p |
| Onion (large) | 1 | 9p |
| Garlic | 2 cloves | 4p |
| Ground ginger | ½ tsp | 2p |
| Turmeric | ½ tsp | 2p |
| Paprika | 1 tsp | 4p |
| Chilli powder | 1 tsp | 4p |
| Ground coriander | 1 tsp | 4p |
| Ground cumin | 1½ tsp | 6p |
| Chopped tomatoes (½ tin) | 200g | 23p |
| Chickpeas (1 tin) | 400g drained | 49p |
| Maris Piper potatoes | 300g | 30p |
| Vegetable stock cube | 1 | 12p |
| TOTAL (3 servings) | £1.63 |
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 large onion, roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 3 cardamom pods
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp chilli powder (mild or hot — your preference)
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tin chopped tomatoes (approx. 200g)
- 1 tin chickpeas (400g), drained
- 300g Maris Piper potatoes, cut into 2cm cubes
- 1 vegetable stock cube, dissolved in 400ml boiling water
Step-by-Step Method
Step 1 — Fry and blend the onion and garlic
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and crushed garlic and fry for 3–4 minutes until softened — you're not looking for colour here, just translucent and soft. Transfer to a jug and blend until smooth with a hand blender. This blended base is what makes the sauce cling properly to the chickpeas rather than sitting as a watery liquid around them.
Step 2 — Toast the whole spices
Return the pan to medium-high heat and add the remaining tablespoon of oil. Add the cumin seeds and the cardamom pods — split the pods first by pressing them flat with the back of a knife, so the seeds fall out. Let these fry for a full 60 seconds. You'll smell the cumin immediately; that's the signal they're doing what they're supposed to do. Any shorter and you won't get the same depth in the finished dish.
Step 3 — Build the curry paste
Add the blended onion back to the pan. Then add the ginger, turmeric, paprika, chilli powder, ground coriander, and ground cumin all at once. Stir everything together and fry for 2 minutes. The paste should look glossy and smell distinctly spiced — if it looks dry, add a splash of water (1–2 tbsp) to stop it catching on the bottom. This is the point I usually check the consistency; it should be thick and fragrant, not dry and crumbly.
Step 4 — Add the tomatoes and chickpeas
Stir in half a tin of chopped tomatoes — mash them roughly with the spoon as you add them. Then drain the tin of chickpeas and add those in too. Pour in enough vegetable stock to just cover everything (roughly 300ml at this stage). Stir, reduce the heat to low, and let it simmer while you prepare the potatoes.
Step 5 — Prepare and add the potatoes
Cut the potatoes into roughly 2cm cubes — don't go smaller or they'll disintegrate over the 45-minute simmer. Add them to the pan and top up with remaining stock so everything is just covered. The potato size is worth thinking about: larger cubes hold their shape better and give you something to bite into; smaller ones dissolve and thicken the sauce. I prefer larger — about the size of a standard dice.
Step 6 — Simmer for 45 minutes
Keep the heat at a genuine low simmer — just barely bubbling. Stir every 10 minutes or so and check the liquid level; add a splash of water if it's reducing too fast. After 45 minutes, the potatoes should be completely tender when tested with a fork but still holding their shape. The sauce will have thickened naturally from the potato starch. Taste and adjust salt before serving.
How to Serve It
I serve this with plain boiled rice (about 13p per portion at Aldi) and a homemade naan bread (also around 13p each). That brings the full meal — a proper portion of curry, a serving of rice, and fresh naan — to about 80p per person. If you want to stretch it to four portions rather than three, just add another 150g of potato; it changes the per-serving cost by less than 10p.
A Few Things I've Learnt Making This
Third attempt was the one where it fully clicked. First attempt: undercooked potatoes because I was impatient and turned the heat up for the last 15 minutes — they were hard in the centre. Second attempt: got the simmer right but the paste caught on the bottom at step 3, left a slightly bitter aftertaste. Third attempt: lower heat throughout, kept an eye on the paste as the spices went in, added a splash of water at the right moment. That batch I actually served to someone else without pre-warning them it was a "budget" recipe.
On spice heat: the chilli powder I use from Tesco's own-brand range is mild. If you prefer more heat, either switch to a medium chilli powder or add a small fresh chilli when you fry the onion. The recipe tolerates adjustment well — the base flavour from the other spices carries it regardless of heat level.
The curry paste from this recipe works as a base for other dishes too. I've used the same method with a tin of lentils instead of chickpeas (even cheaper — about 40p for the same batch size) and it works equally well. Worth knowing if you make this and want to vary it.
For UK allergen guidance, visit food.gov.uk.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make this without a hand blender?
Yes — but the texture will be different. If you chop the onion very finely (dice it small rather than rough chop) and fry it down for a few extra minutes until nearly caramelised, you can skip the blending step entirely. The sauce won't be as smooth, but the flavour is the same. A food processor also works if you have one.
Can I use sweet potato instead of Maris Piper?
Sweet potato works, but it cooks faster — reduce the simmer time to about 30 minutes and check for tenderness from 25 minutes. Sweet potato also breaks down more easily, so cut the cubes slightly larger (2.5–3cm) to account for that. It adds a subtle sweetness that changes the flavour profile noticeably.
Does this freeze well?
Yes — let it cool completely, portion into freezer bags or containers, and freeze for up to 3 months. Reheat from frozen in a pan with a splash of water over a low heat, stirring occasionally. The potato texture changes very slightly after freezing but it's perfectly acceptable. If anything, the flavour improves after a day or two.
How do I make it hotter?
Three options, each with a slightly different result: use a hot chilli powder instead of mild (different heat character, very direct); add a fresh red chilli when frying the onion (fresher, more volatile heat); or add a pinch of cayenne with the other dry spices (intense, even heat throughout). I've tried all three — the fresh chilli version gives the most interesting flavour alongside the heat.
Can I double the recipe?
Yes, and it's worth doing. The cost roughly doubles (about £3.20 for 6 portions at 53p each) but the effort barely changes — you're using the same pan, the same blending step, just more of everything. You'll need a larger pan and slightly more stock, but the method is identical. Portions 4–6 go straight in the freezer.
What can I serve with this besides rice and naan?
Plain chapattis (very cheap to make — about 4p each) work well. So does a simple jacket potato if you want something more substantial. For a lower-carb option, cauliflower rice adds almost no cost. The curry sauce is rich enough that it doesn't need anything fancy alongside it.
Should You Make This or Just Buy It?
Make it. The 54p per serving cost is genuinely what you'll spend — I checked every ingredient at Tesco in March 2025 and the numbers hold up. A supermarket ready-meal equivalent costs at least four times more and doesn't taste as good. The 45-minute simmer is the only real barrier, and that's passive time — the actual hands-on cooking is about 15 minutes spread across an hour. If you have that hour available, this is worth every minute of it.
The one honest limitation: this doesn't work as a quick weeknight meal if you're starting at 7pm and need to eat by 7:30. Plan ahead, and it delivers. The curry paste base alone is useful — I've since made it with lentils, with mixed veg, and with a tin of kidney beans. Same method, different results, all under £1 for three portions.
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