Chana Masala | Punjabi Chole Masala (Stovetop & Instant Pot)

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This Punjabi Chana Masala or Chole Masala is an authentic North Indian style Chickpea Curry made with white chickpeas, freshly powdered spices, onions, tomatoes and herbs.

Chana masala is a naturally vegan recipe with added health benefits of the chickpeas which are packed full of protein, minerals and fiber.

In this post, I am sharing 2 super delicious chana masala recipes.

• Authentic Punjabi Chana Masala – Made in a pan on the stovetop with freshly ground spices.
• Instant Pot Chana Masala (Home Style) – One pot, super easy and does not require the special chana masala spice blend or powder.

Both the recipes are shared with step by step photos and taste awesome. So you can make either of them depending upon the gadgets and time you have. 

What is Chana Masala?

Chana Masala is a popular Indian dish of white chickpeas in a spicy and tangy gravy. In North India, chana masala is called as ‘chole masala’ or simply ‘chole’.

Both the words “Chana” and “Chole” refer to chickpeas. In Hindi language, the word “Masala” means a mixture of spices. In chana masala – specifically the word ‘masala’ means a mixture of ground spices.

There are many variations of making chana masala, but I like the Punjabi chana recipe shared here the most. It tastes like the chana masala you get in the streets of Delhi and Punjab.

Across India, chickpea curries are made in various styles. Of the many chickpea curry recipes I have shared, majority of them are vegan or can easily be veganized.

More Indian chickpea curries for you!

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chole paneer | cottage cheese with chickpeas

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palak chole | spinach with chickpeas

About this Chole Masala Recipe

This chickpea curry recipe was originally inspired and adapted from Anita’s blog and posted in 2009. Yes, over ten years ago!

Since the original posting, I have continued to perfect the recipe, making changes in proportions as well as ingredients.

The result is this recipe, which gives a chana masala that has a good balance of spiciness, taste and flavor. In the process, I also updated the pictures in the post and added a video.

This is one easy and yet lip smacking Punjabi chana masala recipe which tastes awesome. It is one of the most tried and tested delicious chickpea curry recipes on the blog. It has been made innumerable times by me as well as by many readers.

This chana masala recipe reminds me of Chole Bhature, which is our favorite dish. Chole Bhature is a Punjabi chickpea curry dish that is served with a fried leavened puffed bread known as “Bhature”.

When living in Delhi and Gurgaon, we would get awesome chole bhature in many places.

Since I do not live in these places any more, I would crave for the street style chole bhature and this chana masala curry fits in perfectly.

It tastes exactly like the North Indian street side chickpea curry, minus the heat, since we don’t prefer our food to be too spicy.

However if you prefer spicier food, increase the quantity of red chili powder, green chillies and garam masala powder to get the extra spice and heat.

Soaking Chickpeas

While making any chickpea or Rajma (Kidney Bean Curry), it is always better to soak the chickpeas overnight or at least for 8 hours as then it is easier to cook them.

Soaking beans or chickpeas reduce the phytic acid which causes bloating and flatulence.

Pro Tip: If you have forgotten to soak the chickpeas, then add the chickpeas to hot boiled water. Cover and soak for 1 to 2 hours.

I would always suggest to soak chickpeas and not directly cook the dried chickpeas.

Soaking also reduces the cooking time and ensures that the chickpeas are really softened well. This not only gives a good texture but the chickpeas also become easy to digest.

Tips & Substitutes

• Dried Amla (Dried Indian Gooseberry) and Dry Pomegranate Seeds: The dried amla gives a dark color to the chole, along with a light tang. The pomegranate seeds give a sour taste. Find these ingredients at Indian specialty food stores or online at amazon.com.
• If you cannot find these ingredients, add dry mango powder (amchur powder) towards the end. In the absence of amchur powder, you can also squeeze some lime juice towards the end.
• You can also use a black tea bag to achieve the darker color. If you are not fussy about the dark color, then just cook the chickpeas in water with some salt.
• Chana Masala Spices: what contributes to the flavors and aroma of this dish are the freshly ground chole masala spices. The whole spices are roasted until they get extra browned and are later ground. This chole masala spice powder is then blended with a sautéed onion-ginger-tomato mixture. that makes the chickpea curry more flavorful.

Serving Suggestions for Chana Masala

As I have explained earlier, I prefer my chana masala served with a poori or roti . Some great options are: tandoori roti, phulka, kulcha, bhatura or naan.

Add some sliced onions and lime and you have the perfect Indian snack. This chana masala also tastes good with plain rice or jeera rice.

How to make Chana Masala

For ease of understanding, I have divided this post into 3 steps.

• Step 1 – soaking and cooking chickpeas
• Step 2 – roasting spices to make chana masala powder
• Step 3 – making chana gravy

Lets begin with step 1 – soaking and pressure cooking chickpeas

1. Wash and soak 1 cup chickpeas (chana or chole) in enough water overnight. Add enough water to take into account that the chickpeas increase in size during soaking. Rinse the soaked chickpeas in water. Rinsed and soaked chickpeas pictured below.

2. To give a dark color to the chickpeas, traditionally dried amla (Indian gooseberries) are added. These also give a faint sourness to the stock. If you do not have dried amla, then add 1 black tea bag. If you do not care about the dark color, then you can also just cook the chickpeas with salt and water.

3. In a pressure cooker add the chickpeas along with the 2 to 3 dried amla pieces or 1 black tea bag. Taj tea bags work very well. Then pour in 2.5 to 3 cups water.

4. Season with ½ tsp salt. Stir very well.

5. Pressure cook the chickpeas for 12 to 15 whistles. The chickpeas should be cooked well and softened. The chickpeas should be soft when you mash it with a spoon. The chickpeas should not give you a bite when you eat it. If you do not have a pressure cooker, then cook the chickpeas in a pot with plenty of water. Depending on the quality of chickpeas, it can take less or more time.

Step 2 – Making chole masala powder

6. Meanwhile, in a pan, take all the whole spices for the chole masala and on a low heat begin to roast them. The spices used for masala are the following:

• 2 black cardamoms
• 1 inch cinnamon
• 3 to 4 peppercorns
• 2 cloves
• 1 medium tej patta (Indian bay leaf)or 2 small tej patta
• ¼ tsp carom seeds (ajwain)
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• ½ tsp dry pomegranate seeds
• 1 or 2 dry red chilies

7. Stir often and roast the spices until they get extra browned. Don’t burn them, but you have to go beyond a normal roasting point with them. Don’t stop even after they become fragrant, as they need to get more browned than usual.

8. The extra browned and roasted spices are pictured below.

9. Let these roasted spices cool and then grind them finely in a coffee grinder or in a dry grinder.

10. By now the chickpeas are cooked (pictured below). You will see a darker brown shade in the white chickpeas. Remove the amla pieces, which would have softened by now, or the tea bag from the stock and discard them.

Step 3 – Making Chana Masala Gravy

11. Heat 1.5 to 2 tbsp oil in a pan or kadai. Add ½ tsp ginger-garlic paste and sauté until their raw aroma goes away.

12. Then add 1 medium sized finely chopped onion and saute till the onions turn translucent or light brown.

13. Add 1 medium sized finely chopped tomato.

14. Sauté the tomatoes until they soften and the oil starts to leave the sides of the masala.

15. Then add the powdered spices that we made, along with ½ teaspoon red chili powder and ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder.

16. Stir well. Then add 2 to 3 slit green chilies to the onion-ginger-tomato mixture.

17. Add the cooked & drained chickpeas. Reserve the stock.

18. Mix very well.

19. Season with salt as per requirement. Mix again. Keep the addition of salt in check as salt is also there in the stock.

20. Add about 1 to 1.25 cups of the reserved stock or water. Stir well.

21. Cover and simmer on a low to medium flame. You can also cook chickpeas without the lid. The gravy will thicken and reduce. Mash a few chickpeas. This will help thicken the chickpea curry. You can keep the consistency you prefer. At home, we prefer chole with a bit of gravy.

22. If you have not added dry pomegranate seeds while roasting the spices, then you need to add amchur powder (dry mango powder) now. About 1 teaspoon amchur powder is enough. However, you can add less or more of it as per your taste. Stir the gravy very well.

23. The chana masala is ready to be served.

24. Garnish with chopped onions and cilantro (coriander leaves). Serve the Punjabi chole with a fried Indian breads like bhatura or poori, along with sliced onions, ginger julienne and lime wedges. This chickpea curry also tastes good with plain rice or cumin rice.

This recipe post is from the archives (August 2009) and has been republished and updated on 6th June 2020.

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About Instant Pot Chana Masala

This Chana Masala recipe is one pot, super easy and does not require the special chana masala spice blend or powder.

You also don’t need to make this spice blend at home, as is done in Punjabi Chana Masala recipe shared above. The recipe is also gluten-free and vegan.

This is again my mother in law’s homely chickpea curry recipe that is so good when served with rice or had with naan or roti or poori (Indian fried bread). Since this recipe also happens to be our favorite chickpea curry, I often end up making this one at home in the Instant Pot.

This home style Punjabi chana masala recipe is simple in the sense that everything including the chickpeas are cooked together in the IP. Later everything is simmered till you get a medium consistency in the gravy. The recipe is also not spicy.

There is one special aromatic spice that is added to this chana masala gravy. Guess?

No, it is not black cardamoms or cloves or cinnamon. It is carom seed (ajwain or omam). Carom seeds also help in digestion. Now if you do not have carom seeds, kindly skip them altogether and the instant pot chickpea curry will still taste good.

Serve Instant Pot Chana Masala with finely chopped onions, green chilli and lemon wedges with a side of bread, dinner rolls, naan bread, roti, poori or steamed rice.

Topping with chopped onions or lemon juice on the chickpea curry really adds a lot of taste.

Step-by-step Instant Pot Chickpea Curry

1. Rinse and then soak 1 cup dried white chickpeas overnight or for 8 to 9 hours in enough water. Rinse the soaked chickpeas in running water for a couple of times. Drain all the water and keep aside.

2. Switch on the IP and press the sauté button setting the time to 12 minutes on normal mode.

3. Heat oil. Let the oil become hot (but not sizzling or smoking hot). Add the whole spices – 1 inch cinnamon, 6 cloves, 1 tej patta (indian bay leaf), 2 black cardamoms, 1 teaspoon carom seeds (ajwain) and 1 teaspoon cumin seeds.

4. Let the spices crackle and splutter.

5. Then add ½ cup finely chopped onions.

6. Mix and begin to sauté the onions.

7. Sauté till the onions turn translucent.

8. Now add 2 teaspoons finely chopped ginger, 2 teaspoons finely garlic and 2 to 3 slit green chillies.

9. Sauté for about 6 to 7 seconds. While sautéing, if the ingredients start sticking or the heat is too much, then reduce the sauté setting to low. Alternatively you can sprinkle some water and deglaze the pan.

10. Add 1 cup finely chopped tomatoes.

11. Mix well and begin to sauté the tomatoes. If the tomatoes start sticking, then sprinkle some water. Mix and continue to sauté.

12. Sauté till tomatoes soften and become pulpy.

13. Add the spice powders – ½ teaspoon turmeric powder and 1 teaspoon kashmiri red chilli powder. If you do not have kashmiri red chilli powder, then add 1 teaspoon sweet paprika or ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper or ½ teaspoon red chilli powder.

14. Mix very well and sauté for 3 to 4 seconds.

15. Add soaked chickpeas.

16. Mix very well and deglaze the pan. Add salt as per taste.

17. Add 3 cups water.

18. Press the cancel button and press the pressure cook button. Select high pressure and set the time for 30 minutes.

19. Once the pressure cooking is complete and after the beep is heard, wait for 12 to 15 minutes or more for natural pressure release (NPR). If steam is there, then lift the valve and do a quick pressure release (QPR). Check to see if the chickpeas are cooked and softened. If the chickpeas are al dente or undercooked, then pressure cook for 5 minutes more. Note that aged or old chickpeas will take a lot of time to cook.

19. Now press the cancel button again and press the sauté button setting the time to 10 minutes on normal mode.

20. Let the curry come to a simmer. Mash a few chickpeas before the curry starts simmering. This helps in thickening the gravy.

21. Simmer till you get the desired gravy consistency (which is neither thin nor very thick).

22. Then add 1 teaspoon garam masala powder and 1 teaspoon dry mango powder. If you do not have dry mango powder, then add ½ to 1 teaspoon lemon juice.

23. Mix well. Simmer for a minute. If the gravy becomes too thick, then add some water.

24. Serve Instant Pot Chana Masala garnished with some coriander leaves (cilantro) with a side of steamed rice, cumin rice, bread, dinner rolls, roti, puri or bhatura. Do serve with a side of some finely chopped onions, lemon wedges and green chillies (optional).