Chana Masala
Cooking Time
Difficulty
Cuisine
This much-loved North-Indian dish has, at least, as many variations as there are chefs! Chana Masala is a mouthwatering and filling meal that can even be adapted to feed a whole crowd. This chickpea curry is fundamental in Indian cuisine.
Chickpeas are part of the large family of legumes that are high in vegetable protein but equally a powerhouse of fibre, vitamin B9, essential amino acids, minerals and oligo-elements. On top of all that, they are also very beneficial for digestion, help to promote regular bowel movements and are decidedly low-fat.
In Hindi, Chana means “chickpea” and Masala means “spicy” but, let’s be clear: Nima, our Indian chef, will be explaining how to “tame” the spicy side of Indian cuisine. It’s a very versatile recipe: this Chana Masala can be eaten with rice or become a real “Indian street-foodie” by adding chutney (a sweet-sour sauce) or chopped tomatoes, on top of a samosa. In India, they call it a “zinging chaat” (Indian street food snack).
This dish is easy to freeze so you’ll always have something to heat up when you’re not up for cooking. You can use canned chickpeas (which considerably cuts down on time) or dried chickpeas that you soak the night before.
So, you got it… welcome India, with all its flavours, fragrances and colours, into your kitchen.
Chana Masala
Equipment
- A kitchen knife
- A cutting board
- A frying pan
- A pot with lid or a rice cooker (for the rice)
Ingredients
- 1 onion large, red, if available, finely sliced
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 2 cm minced ginger
- 2 green minced chillies or 1 for lower spice tolerance
- 6 green cardamom pods
- 2 cm stick of cinnamon or cassia bark
- 4 whole cloves
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 2 tomatoes large finely diced
- 600 grams canned/jarred chickpeas ou 300 grams dried chickpeas, soaked and cooked
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon chilli powder use sweet paprika for lower spice
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 2 teaspoons coriander powder
- salt to taste
- Fresh coriander chopped, for garnish
Side dish
- Ric, naan or chapati
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pan. When hot, add the whole spices (cardamom, cinnamon, whole cloves, fennel seeds, turmeric, chilli powder, cumin, garam masala, coriander) and let bloom for a minute.
- Then add the onions and green chillies, lower the heat slightly. Continuously stirring, cook until the onions start to brown and smell good.
- Then add the garlic and ginger, and cook for another two minutes. When the ginger and garlic become fragrant (after about 2 minutes), add the tomatoes and all the dry spices and salt. Stir well. If the mixture looks dry, stir in about ½ a cup of water.
- Close with a lid, and let the onion-tomato-spice mixture simmer for at least 20 minutes on a low-medium flame, stirring occasionally to avoid burning.
- At the end of 20 minutes, we should start to see some oil separating from the tomatoes, if not, the flame might be too low, increase the flame slightly and wait a few more minutes.
- In the meantime, puree about 80 grams of the cooked chickpeas, this will help thicken the sauce. When the onion-tomato-spice mixture has cooked, add the chickpeas, the chickpea puree, stir and let everything simmer for at least 15 minutes. During this time, taste for salt, and adjust seasoning if necessary.
- Before serving, add fresh coriander. Traditionally, in Indian households, people just serve with the whole spices, but those aren’t “eaten”. If you have the patience, you can remove the cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon before serving with hot rice or Indian flat breads.
- Other garnishes can include a squeeze of fresh lime, and finely chopped raw onions, but this is entirely optional.
A recipe proposed by Maison Marmite
