Simple, practical, and full of everyday flavour, Slow Cooker Chana Masala is a Indian entree made with raw chickpeas, water, and ginger garlic paste in about 610 minutes. The recipe lays out the ingredients and each cooking step clearly, so you can adjust seasoning, texture, and serving size for your own kitchen.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 600 minutes
  • Total time: 610 minutes
  • Yield: 2
  • Category: Entree
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

to slow cook for 8 hours

  • 1 cup raw chickpeas
  • 2.5 cups water
  • 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 3 cloves
  • 3 black cardamom
  • 2 green cardamom
  • 5-6 peppercorns
  • 1 teaspoon chole masala
  • 1 teaspoon salt

for the masala

  • 2 teaspoons oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon chopped ginger
  • 1 small red onion (chopped)
  • 2 medium tomatoes (chopped)
  • 1/4 teaspoon red chili powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon garam masala powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon cumin powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon chole masala
  • salt (to taste)
  • 1 teaspoon crushed kasuri methi
  • cilantro (to garnish)

Method

  1. In your slow cooker, add all ingredients listed under "to slow cook". Give a stir.
  2. Slow cook ingredients for 8 hours.
  3. In the morning, this is how your chickpeas will look. All done and soft. Keep it warm while you make the tempering.
  4. Heat oil in a pan. Once hot, add chopped ginger. Saute few seconds till ginger starts turning light golden in color.
  5. Add chopped onion, cook for 2-3 mins till raw smell goes away.
  6. Add chopped tomatoes and salt. Mix and cook for 5 minutes.
  7. Add red chili powder, garam masala, chole masala, cumin powder and mix.
  8. Cook for another 6-7 minutes till tomatoes are nicely done and oil starts oozing out from the sides. [you may add 1 tablespoon of water if you think spices will burn while the tomatoes are cooking].
  9. Transfer cooked masala to slow cooker. Add kasuri methi and 1/4 cup water (if required), Mix everything.
  10. Slow cook again for 2 hours.
  11. Add in chopped cilantro and mix. Serve chana masala with rice or any bread of your choice.

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.