chana masala recipe with step by step photos – chana masala or chickpea curry is a regular dish at home. most of the times i cook the north indian punjabi chana masala.
the recipe posted here is a south indian version of chana masala. so as the name suggests, this chana masala recipe has south indian flavors. basically in this recipe, all the ingredients which are commonly used in south indian cooking are added, with grated coconut being one of the main ingredient.
in the punjabi style or north indian chana masala, onions, tomatoes, spices and dry pomegranate seeds or mango powder, make the masala paste and give a spicy and slight sour taste to the chana or chole recipe. apart from the above ingredients, garam masala powder or chole masala is also added to the punjabi chana masala recipe.
whereas in this chana masala the real flavor comes from the coconut and whole spices. you can actually get a distinct taste of coconut. there is a subtle sweetness and this chana masala is not sour or tangy.
the chana masala tastes spicy and goes well with rice, roti or poori. it can even go very well with bhature (leavened fried breads). if you are fond of chole bhature then you can consider serving this chana masala recipe with the homemade bhatura.
i make this chana masala, with mildly hot 2 red chilies for a low spiced version at times. and on occasions, i add 4 dry red chilies to make it spicy. so you can vary the amount of red chilies as per your taste, spice preference and the quality of red chilies. the same recipe can also be made with black chickpeas, potato or green peas.
lets start step by step chana masala recipe:
1. first rinse 1 cup chana/dried chickpeas for a couple of times in water. then soak the chickpeas in enough water overnight or for 8 to 9 hours. below is a pic of soaked chickpeas.
2. drain the water. rinse the chickpeas again for a couple of times.
3. again drain and add the soaked chickpeas in a pressure cooker.
4. add ½ tsp salt.
5. add 3 cups water.
6. stir and pressure cook the chickpeas for 18 to 20 whistles on medium to high flame. the chickpeas should be completely cooked and have a melt in mouth consistency.
7. when the chickpeas are cooking, you can prepare the masala. here are the spices that we will roast first – ½ tbsp fennel, ½ tbsp cumin seeds, 1 small piece of stone flower/dagad phool (optional), 4 to 5 black peppercorns, 2 green cardamoms, 2-3 cloves, 1 tbsp coriander seeds, 1 black cardamom, 1 inch cinnamon, 2 dry red chilies. for a spicy chana, add about 3 to 4 dry red chilies. the amount of red chilies to be added depends on heat quotient in the chilies. so if you use red chilies which have a high heat quotient, then just 1 or 2 dry red chilies would be fine.
8. in a pan or skillet, on a low flame dry roast the spices till they become fragrant.
9. then add ½ cup tightly packed grated coconut to the spices and begin to roast.
10. stir continuously while roasting the coconut, so that there is uniform browning.
11. roast till the coconut become golden. remove the pan and allow the this mixture to cool.
12. once the coconut-spice mixture is cooled, add them to a wet grinder jar. remove the husk from the black cardamom and just add its seeds in the grinder.
13. add about ⅔ to ¾ cup water and grind to a smooth paste. keep aside.
14. heat 3 tbsp oil in a pan.
15. add ½ tsp mustard seeds and allow them to crackle.
16. then add 1 tejpatta and stir.
17. add ⅓ cup chopped onion.
18. stir and saute till the onions turn translucent and soften.
19. then add 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste, ¼ tsp turmeric power, a pinch of asafoetida and 10-12 curry leaves.
20. stir and saute till the raw aroma of ginger-garlic disappears.
21. add ½ cup chopped tomato.
22. saute for about 2 to 3 minutes till the tomatoes soften.
23. add the ground masala paste.
24. stir very well.
25. then add the drained chickpeas. reserve the stock.
26. stir again well and saute for a minute.
27. now add 1 cup stock or stock+water and 1 or 2 slit green chilies.
28. season with salt as required. do keep a check on salt as the stock already has salt.
29. give a boil and then simmer the gravy on a low to medium flame for 12-15 minutes or more till the gravy thickens a bit and you see some oil floating on top. mash a few chickpeas with the sides of the spoon to thicken the gravy. check the seasoning and add more salt as per your taste. add more water if required.
30. lastly, switch off the flame & lastly add 2 tbsp coriander leaves. stir well.
31. serve chana masala hot with pooris, chapatis, bread or steamed rice accompanied with lemon & onion slices.
if you are looking for more chole or chana recipes then do check aloo chana masala, easy chana masala, amritsari chole, pindi chana, dry kala chana, chana pulao and chana chaat.
chana masala recipe details below:
- 1 cup dried white chickpeas/kabuli chana or 180 grams of dried white chickpeas
- 3 cups water for pressure cooking the chana
- ½ tsp salt
- ¾ to 1 cup fresh grated coconut
- 1 inch cinnamon/dal chini
- ½ tbsp fennel/saunf
- ½ tbsp cumin seeds/jeera
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds/sabut dhania
- 2 dry red chilies (3 or 4 chilies would make the dish spicy)
- 2-3 cloves/lavang
- 1 black cardamom/badi elachi
- 2 green cardamom/chotti elachi
- 4 to 5 whole black pepper
- 1 small piece of stone flower/dagad phool (optional)
- 3 tbsp oil
- 1 small bay leaf/tej patta
- ½ tsp mustard seeds/rai
- 10-12 curry leaves/kadi patta
- 1 green chili, slit
- 50 grams onion, 1 medium onion or ⅓ cup chopped onion
- 80 grams tomatoes, 1 medium tomato or just about ½ cup chopped tomato
- 1 medium tomato, chopped
- ¼ or ½ tsp turmeric powder/haldi
- a pinch of asafoetida/hing
- ½ inch ginger + 2-3 garlic - crushed or made into a paste in mortar-pestle, about 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
- 1 cup stock or stock+water
- 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves for garnishing
- salt as required
- first rinse the 1 cup chana/dried chickpeas for a couple of times in water. then soak the chickpeas in enough water overnight or for 8 to 9 hours.
- drain the water. rinse the chanas again for a couple of times.
- again drain and add the soaked chanas in a pressure cooker.
- add ½ tsp salt. add 3 cups water.
- stir and pressure cook the chana for 18 to 20 whistles on medium to high flame.
- if cooking in a pot, then add about 3.5 to 4 cups water with salt to the chickpeas. cover and cook the chickpeas till they softened.
- when the chickpeas are cooking, in a pan or skillet, on a low flame dry roast the spices mentioned under the "roasting the masala" list, till they become fragrant. roast all spices except coconut.
- then add ½ cup tightly packed grated coconut to the spices and begin to roast.
- stir continuously while roasting the coconut, so that there is uniform browning.
- roast till the coconut become golden. remove the pan and allow the this mixture to cool.
- once the coconut-spice mixture is cooled, add them to wet grinder. remove the husk from the black cardamom and just add its seeds in the grinder.
- add ⅔ to ¾ cup water and grind to a smooth paste. keep aside.
- heat 3 tbsp oil in a pan.
- add ½ tsp mustard seeds and allow them to crackle.
- then add tejpatta and stir.
- add ⅓ cup chopped onion.
- stir and saute till the onions turn translucent and soften.
- then add 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste, ¼ tsp turmeric power, a pinch of asafoetida and 10-12 curry leaves.
- stir and saute till the raw aroma of ginger-garlic disappears.
- add ½ cup chopped tomato. saute for about 2 to 3 minutes till the tomatoes soften.
- add the ground masala paste. stir very well.
- then add the drained chanas. stir again well and saute for a minute.
- now add 1 cup stock or stock+water and 1 or 2 slit green chilies.
- season with salt as required. do keep a check on salt as the stock already has salt.
- give a boil and then simmer for 12-15 minutes on a low to medium flame or more till the gravy thickens a bit and you see some oil floating on top. mash a few chickpeas with the sides of the spoon to thicken the gravy. check the seasoning and add more salt as per your taste.
- switch off the flame & lastly add 2 tbsp coriander leaves. stir well.
- serve chana masala hot with pooris, chapatis, bread or steamed rice accompanied with lemon & onion slices.
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Pinaki Mondal says
I make this recipe whole family likes masala chana love it
dassana amit says
thanks pinaki
Sach says
hi!
can i use frozen channa which i previously soaked a few days ago but was not able to use?
thanks
dassana amit says
welcome sach. yes you can use. provided they are still in good condition.
Sriranjani says
Hi dassana . I just tried this recipe came out very well. Superb.. Thank u .. Do posting many reciepes…
dassana amit says
welcome sriranjani. glad to know this.
nishan says
simple….. and beautifully presented….. thank you soo much for the wonderful recipie…<3
dassana amit says
welcome nishan
Lokanath Patel says
Chana, I love, my favorite. You can cook Chana in anyway you want and you won’t hurt my feeling. Thank you. Lok Patel
dassana amit says
welcome lokanath
anomous says
Looks yummy..Wanna try it..Can I use frozen coconut instead of fresh?will it taste good too?
dassana amit says
yes you can use frozen coconut. but fresh coconut always taste better.
K says
I used unsweetened coconut flakes from baking aisle and it tastes just as great.
dassana amit says
thanks for sharing your feedback.
Jennifer says
Nice. Simple but taste yummy. Thanks for recipes
dassana amit says
welcome jennifer
Vani says
Thank u ! That Was a perfect recipie . Keep posting
dassana amit says
welcome vani
Shabana says
It’s tasty
dassana amit says
thanks shabana
Nels says
Greetings. I just made this recipe, tasted a bit when done and it seemed great. Question: I see turmeric in the ingredients list but not in the directions. When should it be added? I threw it in together with the asafoetida, since it is also a powdered dry spice, but cannot be sure if that was right.
As an aside, I will need to get a proper spice grinder; my combination of mortar and pestle followed by blender did not really produce the desired results for texture! But I think the flavors came through nicely nonetheless.
dassana amit says
thanks for the feedback nels and also for letting us know about the turmeric bit. i have updated in the post. you can add turmeric along with the asafoetida. its right. one needs a good grinder or a blender to make a smooth masala paste. for making indian food on a regular basis, which require a thorough grinding of coconut or spices, an indian brand of mixer-grinder is a good investment.
Hanneke says
Thank you for this delicious recipe. I cooked this for my friends and everybody loved it!
dassana amit says
welcome hanneke
Hanneke says
I cooked this for my friends and they loved it! Thanks!
dassana amit says
welcome hanneke
harini says
it”s zoo good.i put this recipe to my hubby.he loved me & recipe too
dassana amit says
thanks harini for sharing positive feedback.
Daniel says
I just discovered this blog and LOVE it!
I was hoping to make this recipe for dinner, but I don’t have time to soak the chickpeas. Would I be able to cheat and either use canned chickpeas or cook the chick peas in boiling water for a couple minutes and then let them sit in the hot water for an hour? Love the recipes!
dassana amit says
thanks. you can use canned chickpeas. also you can boil water and allow to soak the chickpeas for at least 2 hours.
Chaithra says
Its yummy
dassana amit says
thanks chaithra
harini says
hi dassana, awesome recipe.the gravy was very much tasty and sufficient for 5 of us, i was able to serve more unlike the onion based channa masala.i have to use more onions for that.but this recipe requires very little amount of onion.the coconut gives the more volume i think.thanks for the recipe.my family just loved it.
dassana amit says
welcome harini. thanks for sharing positive feedback.
aarthi says
Dassna, this recipe was just amazing! Thank you. I was looking for alternatives for the regular north indian/punjabi garam masala and this was awesome!
dassana amit says
welcome aarthi
sania says
Hi Dassana thank u for a lip smacking yummmmmm recipe. made it twice already.absolutely loved it .Would give it a 100 stars if i cud(it was tat gud ) .wanna try the palak paneer recipe next.
dassana amit says
thanks sania for this awesome feedback.
Viji says
Hi dassanna,
Gonna try this channa masala..I have some doubts before trying it..can I temper the whole spices like cloves,cardamom instead of roasting and grinding?also both green and black cardamom won’t make over powerful aroma? We like the flavour of those whole spices to be mild..suggest me whether to reduce the whole spices and grind it or to temper..
dassana amit says
hi viji, if you temper the full flavors & taste won’t come through. the usp of this recipe is the roasting and grinding of the whole spices and the coconut. both the cardamoms don’t give a powerful aroma as coconut is added, which also balances the intensity of the spices. but for a milder version, you reduce the spices. just skip the black cardamom in this case.
Milos says
Thanks for this wonderful recipe, turned out great in my humble kitchen. I wonder, though, why you put the dry-roasted spices in water? I did it and tried blending, but didn’t get anywhere near a smooth paste. It was quite chunky, even though it smelled and tasted great when I put it into the dish. (btw I used desiccated coconut). Would it be a good idea to put it through a sieve after blending?
I liked the recipe a lot to be clear, but other people may not like chunks of spices and coconut. That is why I am asking this
dassana amit says
thanks milos. the spices including coconut needs to be ground very well. basically its the coconut which need to be ground to a smooth paste. generally western made blenders don’t do a thorough job of grinding coconut. one needs a really & sturdy good mixer-grinder, preferably an indian make one. since i have used fresh coconut, it needs to be ground well in some water. the water helps in grinding the coconut easily. bit if use desiccated coconut, then no need to add any water while grinding. usea good coffee grinder and grind the roasted spices with the coconut in batches to a fine mixture. i would not suggest to use a sieve as most of the flavors of the spices and coconut will be lost then. try using a coffee grinder or a spice grinder to powder the roasted spices and coconut.
Milos says
I used desiccated coconut again, but without water, so as if making garam masala with coconut. It turned out without chunks and the taste was again wonderful, needless to say. I suppose this can be done when preparing any other curry?
You are right about a hand grinder, much better and more practical for small quantities of spices than a big blender.
dassana amit says
yes, milos this method can be done when preparing any curry. desiccated coconut works very well in the absence of fresh coconut. again if you roast the coconut, it gives a wonderful aroma and flavor to the curry. yes, small grinders are better to grind small amount of spices than large blenders.
sara says
Very good systematic instructions.Excellent pics.Looks mouth-watering.
dassana amit says
thanks.
aish says
Superrrrrr…
Natalie says
Can I substitute dried chickpeas with fresh ones? I found these beautiful and fresh chickpeas (still in the shell) at my local international market. I thought it will eliminate the pressure cook step and go straight to add fresh chickpeas on step 20. Do you think this will work? Thanks!
dassana amit says
with fresh chickpeas, the texture as well as the taste would be different. i would still say go ahead with the recipe. it will taste good. you can also steam the fresh chickpeas before you add them at step 20.
Berman says
Try this
Rob Jones says
Very tasty. The curry leaves are definitely “up front” on this dish. I used 1/2c dessicated coconut, which wasn’t nearly enough to be detectable. Overall very nice, but a lot different than the dish by the same name I’ve had in Indian restaurants in the US. Next time around I’ll knock down the curry leaves and increase the coconut. That should balance out the flavors.
dassana amit says
thanks rob. glad to know that you liked the chana recipe.
Rob Jones says
Well this recipe is going to be my go-to chana dish, after six months and almost a dozen recipes tried. This time I added the curry leaves directly to the chutney. I decided to garnish with a few fried onions (in a bag from the local Indian store) and cilantro. Perhaps not very authentic, but it was crazy good.
dassana amit says
thanks rob. this is also my go to chana dish with coconut
LBuubuu says
This is the second dish I’ve cooked from your website and just like the other it’s the best version of the dish I’ve ever tasted. I actually made it twice in one morning because the first time, after peeling and shredding and toasting the coconut and spices, I melted my spatula into it after picking up the wrong one :-O
Now I want to try all your recipes.
dassana says
thanks a lot lucy. happens when cooking… the spatulas get interchanged
Shankari says
Jus tried it and my husband loved it. Got a little spicy so I added some flour mixture. Very easy to make, you’ve solved my problem of hesitating to buy the ready channa masala . Lovely, thank you for posting
dassana says
thanks shankari. nice to know that you liked the chana masala recipe.
Fran says
Hi
Just wondering, I can’t be certain how the fennel should be added. You say 1/2 tbsp.
I assume you mean 1/2 tbsp of fennel seeds?
Thanks!
dassana says
fran, it is half table spoon of fennel.
Fran says
thank you dassana!
Nina says
In the ‘other ingredients’ list you have mentioned bayleaf, asafoetida and green chilli. But none of these is mentioned in the recipe. Pls clarify when these should be added. Thanks.
dassana says
thanks nina for pointing out the mistake. i have updated the recipe detail. please check. green chili was already mentioned in step 20. do share your feedback once you try the chana masala recipe.
Laura says
This looks wonderful–pinning now!
easyfoodsmith says
It is wonderful that you make the masala for the chana from scratch. The chana looks very tempting and in fact one almost feels like polishing it off right away from the screen!
Divya says
I am yet to try your wheat flour Bhatura and here you are with a gorgeous looking channa masala recipe!!Got to try both soon!
HomemadeMother says
Ooooh this looks so comforting and delicious! I cannot wait to try it!