Chana Masala is a North Indian curry made with chickpeas simmered in a tangy, spiced onion-tomato gravy with ginger, garlic and Indian spices. This recipe makes a moderately spiced curry with bold flavors that pairs well with Indian flatbreads or steamed rice.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 540 minutes
  • Cook time: 30 minutes
  • Total time: 570 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Main Course, Snacks
  • Cuisine: North Indian, Punjabi

Ingredients

  • 1 cup dried white chickpeas ((garbanzo beans or white chana) - soaked overnight in enough water)
  • 3 cups water (- for soaking chickpeas)
  • 2½ cups water (- for pressure cooking)
  • 2 to 3 pieces dried amla ((Indian gooseberry, dried)or 1 black tea bag, optional)
  • 1 inch cinnamon stick
  • 2 to 3 cloves
  • 1 black cardamom
  • 1 tej patta (- small to medium sized, (Indian bay leaf), optional)
  • 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 2½ tablespoons oil
  • salt (regular salt or edible rock salt or black salt, add as required)
  • 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)

Method

Cooking Chana

  1. 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.
  2. Drain the water. Rinse the chickpeas again in fresh water and then add them to a 3 litre stovetop pressure cooker.
  3. Add whole spices - cinnamon, black cardamom, tej patta and cloves.
  4. I have also added dried amla to get the dark color in the chickpeas.
  5. Instead of dried amla, you can add 1 black tea bag. You can also simply cook the chickpeas plain with the spices and water.
  6. Pour the 2½ cups of water.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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

  1. 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.
  2. Place the fried green chilies on kitchen paper towels for any excess oil to be drained.
  3. In the same oil, add the carom seeds. Sauté for a few seconds until the carom seeds are fragrant.
  4. Add finely chopped onions. Stir and sauté until the onions turn translucent or light brown.
  5. Add ginger paste and garlic paste. Sauté until their raw aroma goes away.
  6. Add turmeric powder, red chili powder and garam masala powder.
  7. Mix the spice powders with the sautéed onions and then add finely chopped tomatoes.
  8. Stir the whole mixture very well to combine the tomatoes with the mixture.
  9. Sauté until the tomatoes soften and the oil starts to leave the sides of the masala.
  10. 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.
  11. Mix well and then add salt and dry mango powder.
  12. 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.
  13. Simmer till the gravy has thickened. You will also see some oil specks floating at the top of the gravy.
  14. Check the taste and add more salt, red chili powder, garam masala powder or dry mango powder if needed.
  15. Lastly add the fried green chilies to the gravy or keep them aside to be used as a garnish.
  16. Serve Chana Masala hot garnished with coriander leaves paired with bhatura or pooris or naan or roti.
  17. 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.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.