Chana Masala

Name: Chana Masala
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 200 g dried chickpeas (kabuli chana), soaked overnight; 3 tbsp neutral oil; 1 tsp cumin seeds; 300 g onions, very finely chopped; 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste; 250 g tomatoes, pureed; 1 tsp coriander powder; ½ tsp turmeric; 1 tsp red chilli powder; 1½ tsp chana masala powder; 1 tsp amchur (dried mango powder); Salt — 1 tsp for the soaking water, plus more to taste; Ginger julienne, green chilli, coriander or mint, and sliced red onion, to finish

चना मसाला

By Pooja H · 60 min · serves 4 · Punjabi

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Overhead view of chana masala in a terracotta bowl, whole chickpeas in a golden gravy topped with mint and sliced red onion — The colour to aim for at home — golden-brown from long-cooked onions, not the near-black of a restaurant chole.

Close-up of chana masala showing whole chickpeas and some crushed into the thickened gravy — The colour to aim for at home — golden-brown from long-cooked onions, not the near-black of a restaurant chole.

Chole, if you grew up calling it that. Start it the night before — the chickpeas need an overnight soak, and there is no version of this from dried chickpeas that does not. This is the everyday one cooked in Indian homes rather than the near-black restaurant version: a golden onion-and-tomato gravy that gets its body from a handful of the chickpeas crushed into it, not from a thickener. The onions decide how good it is, and they take longer than you want them to.

Ingredients

200 g dried chickpeas (kabuli chana), soaked overnight1 cup dried chickpeas (kabuli chana), soaked overnightIn the US: Two 400 g tins, drained and rinsed, skip the soak and the pressure cooking entirely — see the note below. Dried is better, tinned is what most weeknights allow.
3 tbsp neutral oil3 tbsp neutral oil
1 tsp cumin seeds1 tsp cumin seeds
300 g onions, very finely chopped2 medium onions, very finely chopped
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
250 g tomatoes, pureed2 medium tomatoes, pureed
1 tsp coriander powder1 tsp coriander powder
½ tsp turmeric½ tsp turmeric
1 tsp red chilli powder1 tsp red chilli powder
1½ tsp chana masala powder1½ tsp chana masala powderIn the US: Indian groceries, or online. Garam masala plus an extra ½ tsp amchur gets you most of the way — chana masala powder is largely garam masala with dried mango and pomegranate already in it.
1 tsp amchur (dried mango powder)1 tsp amchur (dried mango powder)In the US: A tablespoon of lemon juice, stirred in off the heat. Sharper and less fruity, but it does the job.
Salt — 1 tsp for the soaking water, plus more to tasteSalt — 1 tsp for the soaking water, plus more to taste
Ginger julienne, green chilli, coriander or mint, and sliced red onion, to finishGinger julienne, green chilli, coriander or mint, and sliced red onion, to finish

Method

1Soak the chickpeas overnight in plenty of cold water with a teaspoon of salt. Salted soaking water softens the skins — the opposite of the old advice, and the single easiest fix for chickpeas that stay stubborn.
2Drain, cover with fresh water and pressure cook for about six whistles, until a chickpea crushes completely between finger and thumb with no chalky centre. Keep the cooking water; it is the body of the gravy. Start the onions below while this happens — otherwise the whole thing runs closer to an hour.25 min
3Heat the oil and add the cumin. When it sizzles, add the onions and cook them properly — fifteen minutes on medium, stirring often, until they are deep golden and shrunken. This is the whole dish and there is no shortcut.15 min
4Add the ginger-garlic paste and fry for a minute until it stops smelling raw. Then the tomato puree, and cook until it darkens and the oil separates out at the edges of the pan.8 min
5Stir in the coriander, turmeric, chilli and chana masala powders with a splash of the chickpea water so they bloom rather than burn. Cook for another minute.
6Tip in the chickpeas with enough of their cooking water to come just level with them. Crush a large spoonful against the side of the pan — that is what thickens the gravy — and simmer for fifteen minutes.15 min
7Turn off the heat and stir in the amchur and salt. Top with ginger julienne, a slit green chilli, coriander or mint, and a few rings of raw red onion. It thickens as it sits, so leave it looser than you think.

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Instant Pot chana masala

Instant Pot

One pot, no separate boil, and the chickpeas cook in the masala rather than beside it. Still needs the overnight soak — unsoaked chickpeas take 45 minutes at pressure and the onions cannot survive that.

1Sauté (Normal) the oil and cumin, then the onions. Give them the full fifteen minutes here too — the Instant Pot saves you the boiling step, not the browning one.15 min
2Add the ginger-garlic paste, then the tomato puree, and cook on Sauté until the oil separates. Add the ground spices with a splash of water. Press Cancel.9 min
3Add the soaked, drained chickpeas and 400 ml water. Scrape the base thoroughly — browned onion stuck to the pot is the usual cause of a Burn warning.
4Pressure Cook (High) for 20 minutes with a full natural release, which takes about 20 more. A quick release here leaves the skins tough.40 min
5Open, crush a spoonful of chickpeas against the side, and simmer on Sauté until it thickens. Finish with amchur, ginger and coriander off the heat.5 min

If it goes wrong

Why your chana masala is not as dark as the restaurant version

Because restaurant chole is coloured, not just cooked. The near-black comes from dried amla or a tea bag simmered with the chickpeas, from anardana, and from onions browned far past where a home cook stops. Adding more chilli powder only makes it hotter and redder. If you want it darker, drop a black tea bag into the pressure cooker with the chickpeas and take it out before they go into the gravy — the tannin stains them without adding flavour you can taste.

Substitutions

Making this with tinned chickpeas on a weeknight

Drain and rinse two 400 g tins and skip straight to the onions. Two changes: use 250 ml of water rather than chickpea cooking liquid, and simmer for only eight minutes at the end, because tinned chickpeas are already fully cooked and will collapse into mush if you treat them like dried ones. The gravy is thinner in flavour without the starchy cooking water, so be a little more generous with the amchur.

If it goes wrong

Chickpeas that refuse to soften, however long you cook them

Usually age, not method. Dried chickpeas more than a year old may never soften properly, and there is no way to tell from the bag — if a batch fails twice, change brands. The other two causes are fixable: hard water, which a pinch of bicarbonate of soda in the soaking water offsets, and acid added too early, so keep the tomato and amchur well away from them until they are already tender.

Serving

What to serve with chana masala beyond bhature

Chole bhature is the restaurant pairing and a lot of work at home. On a weeknight it goes with plain rice, jeera rice, or any flatbread. What it genuinely needs is something sharp and something raw: sliced onion soaked in lemon juice and salt for ten minutes, and a green chilli on the side. A spoon of thick yoghurt if you are not keeping it vegan.

Nutrition

Estimated, per serving.

Calories: 315
Protein: 12 g
Carbs: 38 g
Fat: 13 g
Fibre: 11 g
Sodium: 480 mg

This recipe was written for the Zaika app

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