Chana Masala Recipe (Flavorful North Indian Curry)

closeup image of chana masala in a small serving wok topped with sliced tomatoes, onions, lemon and green chillies.

5 from 2 votes

Chana Masala Recipe (Flavorful North Indian Curry)

This Chana Masala recipe will give you a robust, tangy and medium-spicy curry. Whether you have it with your day-to-day Indian flatbreads of steamed rice or just as is, topped with some onions, tomatoes, coriander leaves and lemon, the dish is tasty as well as nutritious. The recipe is also gluten-free and vegan.

Prep Time9

Cook Time30

Total Time9 30

Course: Main Course, Snacks

Cuisine: North Indian, Punjabi

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Servings:

Calories: 307kcal

Author: Dassana Amit

Ingredients

For cooking chickpeas

1 cup dried white chickpeas (garbanzo beans or white chana) - soaked overnight in enough water
3 cups water - for soaking chickpeas
2.5 cups water - for pressure cooking
2 to 3 pieces dried amla (Indian gooseberry, dried)or 1 black tea bag, optional
1 inch cinnamon
2 to 3 cloves
1 black cardamom
1 tej patta - small to medium sized, (Indian bay leaf), optional

For masala gravy ingredients

½ cup onions - finely chopped & tightly packed
1 cup tomatoes - finely chopped tomatoes
3 to 4 green chilies - slit (green chili peppers)
1 teaspoon ginger paste or about 1 inch peeled ginger - crushed in mortar-pestle
1 teaspoon garlic paste or about 6 to 7 medium-sized peeled garlic cloves - crushed in mortar-pestle
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon Red Chili Powder
1 teaspoon Garam Masala or chana masala powder or punjabi garam masala powder
1 teaspoon dry mango powder (amchur powder) or dried pomegranate seeds powder (anardana powder)
¼ teaspoon carom seeds (ajwain) or swap with ½ teaspoon of cumin seeds
2 to 2.5 tablespoons oil
salt regular salt or edible rock salt or black salt, add as required

For garnish

2 to 3 tablespoons coriander leaves - chopped, (cilantro)
1 onion - sliced or chopped, small-sized
1 tomato - sliced or chopped, small-sized
1 lemon or lime, quartered

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Cooking chana or white chickpeas

First rinse the 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 in fresh water and then add them to a 3 litre stovetop pressure cooker.
Add whole spices - cinnamon, black cardamom, tej patta and cloves.
I have also added dried amla to get the dark color in the chickpeas.
Instead of dried amla, you can add 1 black tea bag. You can also simply cook the chickpeas plain with the spices and water.
Pour the 2.5 cups of water.
Pressure cook the chickpeas for 15 minutes on medium to medium-high heat. Wait for the pressure to drop naturally in the cooker. Then open the lid and check if the chickpeas are cooked well.
The chickpeas must be tender, softened and have a melt in the mouth texture. They should mash easily when you press with a spoon. The cooked chickpeas must not give you any slight bite when you eat them.
If you do not have a pressure cooker, then cook the chickpeas in a pot with plenty of water or in an Instant Pot. Cooking chickpeas in a pot will take a lot of time though.
Remove the amla pieces which would have softened by now or the tea bag from the stock.
You can also remove the whole spices from the stock, but I keep them. Keep the cooked chickpeas along with the stock aside.

Making chana masala

Heat oil in a kadai (wok) or a pan. Add slit whole green chilies and fry them on medium-low heat until the have some light golden blisters on them.
Ensure to slit the green chilies and fry, so that they do not burst in the oil.
Note that you could skip frying the green chillies if you prefer. Or opt to add 1 to 2 green chilies in the masala while sautéing.
Place the fried green chilies on kitchen paper towels for any excess oil to be drained.
In the same oil, add the carom seeds. Sauté for a few seconds until the carom seeds are fragrant.
Add finely chopped onions. Stir and sauté until the onions turn translucent or light brown.
Add ginger paste and garlic paste. Sauté until their raw aroma goes away.
Add turmeric powder, red chili powder and garam masala powder.
Mix the spice powders with the sautéed onions and then add finely chopped tomatoes.
Stir the whole mixture very well to combine the tomatoes with the mixture.
Sauté until the tomatoes soften and the oil starts to leave the sides of the masala.
When the oil starts separating from the onion and tomato masala and it looks glossy, at this point add the chickpeas along with the stock (the water in which the chickpeas were cooked).
You could also opt to add fresh water instead of the stock.
Mix well and then add salt and dry mango powder.
Stir again and simmer the curry on medium-low to medium heat.
You can also mash a few chickpeas with the back of the spoon to thicken the gravy.
Simmer till the gravy has thickened. You will also see some oil specks floating at the top of the gravy.
Check the taste and add more salt, red chili powder, garam masala powder or dry mango powder if needed.
Lastly add the fried green chilies to the gravy or keep them aside to be used as a garnish.
Serve Chana Masala hot garnished with coriander leaves paired with bhatura or pooris or naan or roti.
As a side accompaniment serve the Chana Masala with sliced onions, tomatoes and lime or lemon.
You can also add some fried potato cubes as a topping and serve.

Notes

If you don't have dry mango powder, then add:
a) lemon juice once the curry is completed cooking with.
b) or you can include the dry pomegranate seeds powder (anardana powder) and add it while sautéing the masala as replacement for dry mango powder.
You can also use canned chick peas and add them once the tomatoes along with the ground spice powders are sautéed.
The curry can be made more spicy by adding more red chili powder, garam masala powder and green chilies.
Adding a pinch of baking soda also helps in making the chickpeas soft.
Instead of garam masala powder, you can also add chana masala powder or Punjabi garam masala powder.
Skip adding amla or tea bags, if you do not have them.
If you do include dried amla or Indian Gooseberry, you will see a brown shade in the chickpeas. Opt to remove the amla pieces which would have softened or keep them if you prefer. If you do choose to keep them, then let them become warm and mash them very well with a spoon or a mortar-pestle. Add this mashed amla to the masala gravy. When you do so, you may not need to add the dry mango powder, as the gravy will be naturally tangy due to the amla and tastes splendid.
If cooking chickpeas in the pan or pot then:
You have to take enough water in the pot while cooking the chickpeas. It takes a lot of time though. For 1.5 to 2 cups of soaked & drained chickpeas, you can take about 4 to 5 cups of water. Adding a pinch of baking soda in the water along with salt, also helps in the cooking process and the chickpeas become really soft when cooked. You can add about 1 teaspoon of salt. A little less salt is also alright. I usually add less salt. Cover the pot and cook. If the water starts to become frothy, then remove the lid and cook for some minutes. Remove the scum if there is any while cooking the chickpeas.

Nutrition