Chana Masala
Chana masala – classic Indian style chickpeas curry cooked in onions, tomatoes, garlic, ginger, green chili and so many other dry spices.
It is one of our favorite family dish. Everyone in my household loves this dish, specially kids! It is so flavorful and satisfying. This flavor bomb dish is also protein packed and so filling. It can be served with either rice or naan. You can also use it in a wrap!
This spicy, tangy, warm dish is super comforting. There are so many diff ways to use this. Eat it like curry with naan or over jeera rice, make Samosa Chaat using this as on of the Samosa topping. Make wraps using it. The options are endless. I like to make a big batch and use it few times over 4-5 days. I personally feel like it tastes better when you let it sit for sometime. And the fact that it is extremely easy to make gives me no excuse to not make it!
If you like Chana Masala flavors, I suggest you try my CHANA MASALA PULAO and KALA CHANA MASALA – IP. Those are also as flavorful as this one! If you end up making it and liking it, tag me on Instagram @myvegetarianroots. I would love to see your recreation of this simple yet delicious dish!
Happy & Healthy Eating!!
Chana Masala
Ingredients
- 3 cans Boiled Chickpea 15.5 oz can each
- 3 tbsp Peanut Oil any cooking oil works
- 2 tsp Cumin seeds
- 1 pinch Hing/Asafetida
- 2 Whole Dry Red Chilli
- 4 Cloves
- 4 Black Peppercorns
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 1 Cinnamon Stick
- 1½ cup Chopped Yellow Onion
- 1 tbsp Minced Garlic
- 2 tsp Grated Ginger root
- 1 Jalapeño Pepper skip if making kid friendly
- 2 cup Chopped Wine Tomato
- ¼ cup Tomato Paste
- 2 tsp Chaat Masala
- 1½ tsp Mango Powder
- 3 tsp Chana Masala
- 1 tsp Turmeric Powder
- 2 tsp Cumin Coriander Powder
- 1 tsp Kashmiri Red chilli powder
- 2½ tsp Black Salt use regular or pink salt as an alternative
- 3 cup Water less if you like it less runny
- ½ cup Chopped Cilantro
- 1-2 tsp Lime Juice skip it if you like to avoid tanginess
Instructions
- Add 3 tbsp peanut oil, or any cooking oil to the pan. Add all whole spices, cinnamon stick, bay leaf, black peppercorn, cloves, whole dry red Chilli and cumin seeds.
- Once the cumin seeds turn little darker in color and aroma starts to form, add chopped onions and sauté till they start to become translucent but still holding the crunch.
- Add minced garlic, grated ginger and chopped jalapeño. Mix well, saute till onions are completely translucent.
- Add chopped tomatoes and tomato paste to the cooked onions. Saute it till tomatoes are soft and starts to loose moisture.
- Add in all the spices to it, black salt, chata, masala, mango, powder, chana masala, cumin coriander powder, turmeric powder, kashmiri red chilli powder. Mix it all and cook for 3-5 minutes or till oil starts to separate.
- Add boiled (washed and drained) chickpeas and mix well. Add 2 cups of water to it and mix it again. Use potato masher to mash just a little bit of chickpeas. This will help thicken the sauce. Add 1 more cup of water if the sauce is thickening too much. Mix well, cover and let it cook for 3-5 minutes.
- THIS STEP IS OPTIONAL. At this point, you can see the chana masala is very watery. We want it to have a little thicker gravy consistency. To do so, Take out ½ cup worth mixer out (along with chickpea and spicy water mix that you have in the pan) and blend it in the blender until smooth. Add that back to the pan and stir it very well.
- Cover the pot and let it cook for about 5-6 min stirring occasionally. Turn the stove off and add chopped cilantro and lime juice. Stir well. Serve it with either naan or jeera rice. Enjoy!