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–+ servings

Chana Masala

Chef: Nima Raghunathan
This chickpea curry is fundamental in Indian cuisine.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Course Main course
Cuisine Indian
Servings 2

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
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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.
Keyword Chickpea
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A recipe proposed by Maison Marmite