This South Indian Coconut Chickpea Curry is a spicy and super delicious curry made with white chickpeas, coconut and spices. A vegan dish.
In this recipe 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 channa masala is not sour or tangy.
This spicy coconut chickpea curry goes well with rice, roti, paratha 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 it with the homemade bhatura.
I make varieties of chickpea curry recipes at home. My all-time favorite Is this authentic and flavorsome Punjabi Chana Masala. The recipe gives a good balance of spiciness, taste and flavor. It tastes like the chickpea curry you get in the streets of Delhi and Punjab.
The recipe posted here is a South Indian version of chickpea curry with coconut. So as the name suggests, This curry has South Indian flavors and taste awesome. 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 ingredients.
In the Punjabi style or North Indian version, onions, tomatoes, spices and dry pomegranate seeds or dry mango powder, make the masala paste and give a spicy and slightly sour taste to the curry. Apart from the above ingredients, garam masala powder or chana masala powder is also added.
I make this recipe, 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.
Serve this coconut chickpea curry hot with chapati or puri or naan bread or kulcha or plain paratha or lachha paratha or bhatura or aloo paratha or bread or steamed rice accompanied with lemon and onion slices.
How to make coconut chickpea curry
A) cooking chickpeas or chana
1. First rinse 1 cup 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 photo of soaked chickpeas.
2. Drain the water. Rinse the chickpeas again 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 of 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 the mouth consistency.
Note – If cooking Chickpeas 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.
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 taste, add about 3 to 4 dry red chilies. The amount of red chilies to be added depends on the 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 becomes golden. Remove the pan and allow 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 tej patta (Indian bay leaf) 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 powder, 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 curry on a low to medium flame for 12-15 minutes or more till the curry thickens a bit and you see some oil floating on top. Mash a few chickpeas with the sides of the spoon to thicken the curry. 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 coconut chickpea curry a hot with pooris or naan or tandoori rotis or bhatura or aloo paratha or bread or jeera rice or steamed rice accompanied with lemon and onion slices.
Few more similar recipes for you!
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Coconut Chickpea Curry (Indian)
Ingredients
for pressure cooking chickpeas
- 1 cup dried white chickpeas (kabuli chana or safed chana) or 180 grams of dried white chickpeas
- 3 cups water for pressure cooking the chana
- ½ teaspoon salt
for roasting masala
- ½ cup tightly packed fresh grated coconut
- 1 inch cinnamon
- ½ tablespoon fennel
- ½ tablespoon cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 2 dry red chilies or 3 to 4 chillies - would make the dish spicy
- 2 to 3 cloves
- 1 black cardamom
- 2 green cardamom
- 4 to 5 whole black pepper
- 1 small piece of stone flower (dagad phool) - optional
other ingredients
- 3 tablespoon oil
- 1 small tej patta (indian bay leaf)
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- 10 to 12 curry leaves
- 1 green chili - slit
- 50 grams onion or 1 medium onion or ⅓ cup chopped onion
- 80 grams tomatoes or 1 medium tomato or about ½ cup chopped tomato
- ¼ or ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 pinch asafoetida (hing)
- ½ inch ginger + 2-3 garlic - crushed or made into a paste in mortar-pestle or about 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
- 1 cup stock or stock+water (here the stock refers to the water in which the chickpeas were cooked)
- 2 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves for garnishing (cilantro leaves)
- salt as required
Instructions
cooking chickpeas
- First rinse 1 cup 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 chickpeas again for a couple of times.
- Again drain and add the soaked chickpeas in a pressure cooker.
- Add 1/2 tsp salt. Add 3 cups water.
- Stir and pressure cook the chickpeas for 18 to 20 whistles on medium to high flame.
- If cooking chickpeas 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.
making masala paste
- When the chickpeas are cooking, you can roast the spices. 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.
making coconut chickpea curry
- 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 sauté 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. Sauté for about 2 to 3 minutes till the tomatoes soften.
- Add the ground masala paste. Stir very well.
- Then add the drained chickpeas. 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 hot with chapati, pooris, bread or steamed rice accompanied with lemon & onion slices.
I tried yesterday. Turned out awesome 👏. Thanks for the lovely recipe. Everyone liked a lot. Super taste.
Thank you for the rating and the review on the recipe. Glad to know. Happy cooking.
The aroma whilst cooking was so enticing, that I was salivating????????
I cooked this for friends and everybody loved it.
Thank you soo much for such delicious curry.
Welcome Vikram. Nice to know this.
Hello dassanaji!!! Wondering how I have never viewed did recipe even though I m following u for yrs…..hope ur new year is going good….gonna try did recipe as soon as possible. Sorry 4 asking u again n again pls share the recipe of eggless vattalappam recipe with us dassana ji if possible….. Thanks a ton!!!
thanks aishu. it happens. the structure of website is such that many recipe get hidden. this is a very good curry and you can try at home. i have got a couple of requests for vattalappam. in fact i had an eggless version in one of the hotels in kumarakom in kerala and it was very good. so i will try to add the recipe in some time.
Thanks for sharing this recipe. It is really very nice.
Welcome AGS
Thank you for all your amazing recipes.
One point missing in this recipe is the number of whistles needed for cooking the chana. All your other recipes I have tried mentions this.
Thank you once again
Roshni
Welcome Roshni. Usually I try to mention. However the time to cook chana varies as it depends upon many factor like size of cooker, age of chana and intensity of flame. older the chana, the more time it takes to cook.
Thank you for this detailed recipe which turned out awesome, followed exactly step by step and the result was outstanding ????
Welcome Shuba. Thanks for your positive comment on chana masala recipe.
In the recipe, you mention “pressure cook the chana for 18 to 20 whistles”. How many minutes would 18 to 20 whistles convert? (I prefer to take my attention off cooking while pressure cooker is doing its job. If you specify the minutes it is convenient to come back after the specified number of minutes)
Appreciate this awesome recipe. Thank you in advance
thanks. 18 to 20 whistles is about 20 to 22 minutes.
Liked your capsicum curry, channa masala, the way you have given instructions is very good, Thanku
thank you swetha. do try the other recipes as well. happy cooking.
Hi! What do you mean by stock? Vegetable stock?
here in this recipe the stock is the water in which in the chickpeas were cooked.
For the wet grinder, is it the same device you use for dry grinding, and you just add water before grinding? Or is it a different device?
i use the same device and jar for both wet grinding and dry grinding. for wet grinding, i do add water before grinding. here is link to the grinder i use – https://www.amazon.in/Preethi-Blue-Leaf-Platinum-139/dp/B008LN5D4G
Is there any substitute of coconut
you can use coconut milk. also instead of fresh coconut, you can use desiccated coconut.
I can’t wait to try and make this version tonight. I made the Punjabi-style from your website several times, and it simply amazing.
I was just curious, do you ever add anything else to the chickpeas when you cook them? I have read/seen the addition of baking soda helps cooks the peas more quickly, and cooks the inside without drying. In addition to the beautiful color the tea/gooseberries provides, the theory is it also counteracts the bitter tasting baking soda.
Could anything be used for the same effect?
thanks bryan. while cooking chickpeas, i usually do not add baking soda. but yes on rare occasions i have added baking soda and it does help the chickpeas to have a soft melt in the mouth texture. just add a pinch of baking soda. this much does not give any bitter taste. if more is added, then yes bitter taste will be felt. there is nothing that can replace baking soda.
I tried Channa Masala today for Aapams.. They just turned out to be Wow….I don’t cook onion and garlic.. I omitted the onion and garlic and remaining ingredients were all the same.. It was Superb. We offered it to lord Jaganath today..Thank you Dassana!
Welcome Preeja. Glad to know this. Thanks for sharing that without onion garlic the recipe still taste yum.
Thanks for this recipe. I made it (minus black cardamon and mustard seed, which I didn’t have) and found it delicious. It reminded me very much of a chana served with appam in Chennai saravana bhavan. (that is meant to be a compliment)
thank you minnmichelle. i have never had any dishes from saravana bhavan, but heard a lot about them. thanks for the compliment ????
Tried this recipe today and my family loved it! thank you so much 🙂
Welcome Tanusha. Nice to know that you all liked chana masala recipe.
Goodness me, your recipe tastes absolutely wonderful! Thank you for such detailed yet utterly clear instructions, it turned out absolutely perfectly.
I did have to make a couple of amendments, mainly because I don’t have a wet grinder. I toasted the spices and ground them in a coffee grinder, then made a paste with water. For the coconut I had to use a creamed coconut block which I finely grated and added to the ingredients. Before adding the chick peas I used a handblender to make sure everything was as finely paste as possible. The end result was not grainy at all, so this method will work if you don’t have a wet grinder. Also, as I had them in the cupboard, I added the juice of half a lemon, and a tiny pot’s worth of mango chutney. These additions certainly didn’t hurt the flavour.
Once again, thanks you so much! I can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
thanks a lot lee. i am amazed at the small and useful steps you have implemented in the absence of a wet grinder. great 🙂
thanks for sharing all the methods and variations you have done as this will help readers who do not have a wet grinder. do try the other recipes as well. happy cooking.
I’m getting so hungry looking at this recipe, I’m dying to make it! But I have no stone flower, curry leaves, hing, or cardamom pods. I do have cardamom seeds, though. How much seed should I use, & are there any substitutes for the flower, leaves, & hing? Or should I try a different recipe?
druid, for some reason, your comments were in the spam folder. not sure why.
you can skip stone flower and hing. curry leaves gives their aroma and taste, so my suggestion would be not to skip it. but if you do not get them where you live, then you do not have any option, but to make the chana masala without curry leaves. for cardamom seeds, you can add 2 to 3 cardamom seeds. there is no substitute for curry leaves, stone flower. you can try this recipe as i feel these ingredients will not be difficult for you to have or get – https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/punjabi-chole-chickpeas-in-a-spicy-gravy/
Hi. Do you have a suggestion for a wet grinder?
by wet grinder, you mean the table top grinder (for grinding idli & dosa batter) or the mixer-grinder used in indian homes for grinding, blending and juicing?
Too good, but if possible translate the words which can be know easy
in which language. hindi or other language.
Tried it out and my entire family loved ur awesome recipe. Thanks Dassana. Keep it going.
nice to know sai and thanks for sharing.
replace cocunut with kaju paste and it is super delicious. spices and kaju to be grinded separately
thanks sandhya for sharing your suggestions, indeed kaju paste will add rich flavor and texture. traditionally coconut is added.
Thanks for posting such superb reciepes, your webpage is my go to place whenever I cook something new and it turns out delicious and awesome.I tried this chole reciepe today and it turned out excellent tastewise but somehow the texture of the gravy came out to be granular and inconsistent, what should I do to get a smooth, consistent, well bound thick gravy? Is it that I need to grind all coconut gravy ingredients for some more time till they become fine and smooth?
Thanks dassana madam and keep posting such beautiful, neatly presented and well articulated recipes. 🙂
thanks a lot chaaya. the coconut masala needs to be ground fine. if the coconut and spices are not ground fine, the granular or gritty effect will be felt in the gravy. the coconut-spice paste should be smooth. this is applicable for most coconut based gravies, unless otherwise mentioned in the recipe.
verry nice …
thank you ankit 🙂
Thanks Dassanna
It was awesome
Welcome Nisha
Hi.. superb one. I just love all your recipes. Let me try this chana masala tonight for chapati.
Could u pls let know what is “stock” mentioned in the last point ? Thanks
thanks harini. the stock is the water in which the chana are cooked.
What a Great Recipe…… Awesome taste Dasanna…. Loved it….. ??????
thanks a lot kavita.
I was interested as the recipe is a variation of the regular chole masala,but all the recipes I have read so far have onion and garlic. How about giving alternative spices as quite a few of us are no onion no garlic people. Thanks
i do plan to add a no onion no garlic version of chole masala. about giving alternatives in a recipe containing onion garlic can be tricky as the other ingredients required have to be used in precision, so that there is an overall good balance of taste and flavor in the dish.
HI,
I love the recipe but I was wondering if I can substitute for some of the ingredients if I can’t find them like the curry leaves or asafoetida.
you cannot substitute asofoetida and curry leaves as they have their own property and characteristics. hope this help’s you 🙂 at the most you could skip them but that would impact the taste of the recipe.
Thanks for one’s marvelous posting! I certainly enjoyed reading it, you
are a great author. I will be sure to bookmark your blog and definitely will come back in the future.
I want to encourage you to definitely continue your great job, have a
nice morning!
thankyou harga for your mind words 🙂
Hi, Can I know what stock is being used in this recipe?
its the stock in which the chickpeas are cooked.
Looks yumm gonna surely try tomorrow
Kept chickpea for soaking overnight
Can’t wait for the taste. I basically don’t use coconut in curries but I’m using it as it has to be used in this recipe let’s see he outcome
I’m sure it will taste best thnx 4 d recipe 🙂
thanks sadiya. the recipe is good and i hope you like it.
I always like to try your recipes as they are very simple and easy to make .and very tasty. I have tried 3 receipes .they were very tasty and my children couldn’t believe it was home made.II got a lot of praises . thanks a lot. I’ll try this too today.
very pleased to know this laxmi 🙂 thankyou for trying the recipes and glad your kids liked them and you are always welcome.
Loved this recipe and the food. I don’t know what it was but the flavor was unique compare to chana masala i’ve made before. Perhaps it was the coconut flakes.
thanks puru. yes you are right. coconut changes the flavor.
Very special to my kitchen thanks
welcome anu
Hi Dassana,
I want to try this recipe. Looks very yummy! I have never made with fresh coconut. Is it okay to use dry coconut?
thanks aparna. yes its alright.
I just made this and it tasted amazing! What kind of wet grinder do you use? I tried to make the paste in my blender but could not get it so smooth! Help please!
thanks ashlee. i use an indian brand ‘preethi’. its a good grinder.
Very tasty recipe and other recipes also very good
Namaste dassana&amit, I have found your beautiful blog searching for chana masala recipe and I immediately understood to be in the right place. Your post is so true and familiar that I had the sensation to be with a real indian chef while cooking chana masala in my kitchen… And what a delicious dinner! Thank you for sharing your talent.
welcome. thanks for sharing positive feedback and your kind words.
All of the spices taste amazing! I ended up using my Vitamix to blend/grind the coconut and spices. It was pretty smooth, but in wasn’t as smooth as tomato paste. Should it be? Thank you for such a yummy recipe!
welcome joyce. yes it should be smooth and fine.
This recipe is brilliant … seriously bang on .. followed it point by point and was completely impressed by how awesome it was. Loved it
Nice stuff, ill try some other recipes on this website (this was the first i tried)
thanks devon. glad to know that you liked the recipe.
I make this recipe whole family likes masala chana love it
thanks pinaki
hi!
can i use frozen channa which i previously soaked a few days ago but was not able to use?
thanks
welcome sach. yes you can use. provided they are still in good condition.
Hi dassana . I just tried this recipe came out very well. Superb.. Thank u .. Do posting many reciepes…
welcome sriranjani. glad to know this.
simple….. and beautifully presented….. thank you soo much for the wonderful recipie…<3 🙂
welcome nishan
Chana, I love, my favorite. You can cook Chana in anyway you want and you won’t hurt my feeling. Thank you. Lok Patel
welcome lokanath
Looks yummy..Wanna try it..Can I use frozen coconut instead of fresh?will it taste good too?
yes you can use frozen coconut. but fresh coconut always taste better.
I used unsweetened coconut flakes from baking aisle and it tastes just as great.
thanks for sharing your feedback.
Nice. Simple but taste yummy. Thanks for recipes
welcome jennifer
Thank u ! That Was a perfect recipie . Keep posting
welcome vani
It’s tasty
thanks shabana
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.
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.
Thank you for this delicious recipe. I cooked this for my friends and everybody loved it!
welcome hanneke
I cooked this for my friends and they loved it! Thanks!
welcome hanneke
it”s zoo good.i put this recipe to my hubby.he loved me & recipe too
thanks harini for sharing positive feedback.
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!
thanks. you can use canned chickpeas. also you can boil water and allow to soak the chickpeas for at least 2 hours.
Its yummy
thanks chaithra
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.
welcome harini. thanks for sharing positive feedback.
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!
welcome aarthi
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.
thanks sania for this awesome feedback.
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..
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.
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 🙂
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.
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.
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.
Very good systematic instructions.Excellent pics.Looks mouth-watering.
thanks.
Superrrrrr…
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!
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.
Try this
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.
thanks rob. glad to know that you liked the chana recipe.
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.
thanks rob. this is also my go to chana dish with coconut 🙂
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. 🙂
thanks a lot lucy. happens when cooking… the spatulas get interchanged 🙂
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
thanks shankari. nice to know that you liked the chana masala recipe.
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!
fran, it is half table spoon of fennel.
thank you dassana!
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.
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.
This looks wonderful–pinning now!
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!
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!
Ooooh this looks so comforting and delicious! I cannot wait to try it!