Chana Masala (Savory Indian Chick Peas)

  4.4 – 165 reviews  • Indian

This recipe for Mexican wedding cakes yields delicate, buttery, crunchy, and ball-shaped cookies that are dusted with powdered sugar and contain chopped almonds. When arranged in miniature cupcake liners on a platter, they look beautiful.

Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 30 mins
Servings: 2
Yield: 2 cups

Ingredients

  1. 1 onion, chopped
  2. 1 tomato, chopped
  3. 1 (1 inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
  4. 4 cloves garlic, chopped, or more to taste
  5. 1 green chile pepper, seeded and chopped (Optional)
  6. 3 tablespoons olive oil
  7. 2 fresh bay leaves
  8. 1 teaspoon chili powder
  9. 1 teaspoon coriander powder
  10. 1 teaspoon garam masala
  11. ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
  12. 1 pinch salt to taste
  13. water as needed
  14. 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas
  15. 1 teaspoon fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish, or more to taste

Instructions

  1. Grind onion, tomato, ginger, garlic, and chile pepper together in a food processor into a paste.
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  3. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Fry bay leaves in hot oil until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour the paste into the skillet and cook until the oil begins to separate from the mixture and is golden brown in color, 2 to 3 minutes. Season the mixture with chili powder, coriander, gram masala, turmeric, and salt; cook and stir until very hot, 2 to 3 minutes.
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  5. Stir enough water into the mixture to get a thick gravy; bring to a boil and stir chickpeas into the gravy. Reduce heat to medium and cook until the chickpeas are heated through, 5 to 7 minutes. Garnish with cilantro.
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  7. Serve with a ‘Mattar Paneer’ recipe to round out this Indian dinner.
  8. As an optional serving suggestion, use the “
  9. ” recipe instead of rice as a companion to this dish.

Reviews

Kathleen Small
Used a can of Rotel instead of the separate tomato and chili pepper. I did not have any bay leaf so just added some basil instead. Otherwise followed recipe exactly and it turned out great. Served with naan bread
Sylvia Perez
Excellent recipe, very close to what we get in an Indian restaurant. Easy to make and fairly quick. Finding fresh bay leaves maybe a challenge depending where you live. I tried it with dried Bay leaves a few times and we were happy with the results.
Linda Soto
I loved the recipe however I added tomato paste for a little tang and 1 tsp extra coriander and cumin powder (didnt have just coriander powder).
Dana Clark
Loved it! It’s my go too as I have made it several times! I also always add more spices. This time I actually roasted the garlic and tomatoes. I will let you know the difference. Cooking it now and letting it cook slow all day. Edit: It’s fabulous! Even more so! Slow Roasted the veggies this morning… yum!
Stephanie Kim
I am happy with all the flavors in this recipe. It was easy to make. I will definitely make it again! YUM!
Tanya Yang
Great recipe, but like others said add more spice. I didnt have a food processor so I just diced everything up fairly well, and added a small can of tomato paste for the consistency. Worked great and an easy simple meal to cook.
Robert Johnson DDS
First off, I’ll make this agian. Easy to make. Simple ingredient list. Very pleased with the results. Thank you. Substitutions: small can of salt free tomato sauce instead of a tomato used Cumin and allspice in place of garham masla cooked chickpeas first in shallow water, saved the water to ad back if necessary.
Melissa King
Only giving 4 stars as I, like others doubled up on the spices. I also added 1tsp of cumin for a more authentic taste. Doubled the salt and added freshly ground black pepper. Will def make again!
Breanna Hall
I don’t review a lot of recipes, but I’m sold on this one. Soooo easy and the flavors are amazing. I added more of each of the spices (because I love them) and put in a little bit of cardamom (because everything tastes better with cardamom), but did everything else exactly according to the recipe and it is fantastic. This may become a staple in my refrigerator for snacking. Thank you for offering this to the group!
Micheal Vaughan
I like the spice blend, just needs more of everything. I doubled the turmeric, garam, coriander, and chili powder; next time I will triple or more. Also, I used two very large tomatoes rather than having to add water.
Christopher Phillips
I think this was a nice base recipe. I found that once I put everything in my Ninja and ground it up, it really wasn’t necessary to add water. I simply used two cans of chickpeas and did not drain the liquid. I also added a tablespoon of cumin and a teaspoon of cinnamon. I added a bit more salt than called for as well. I doubled the gram seasoning. I didn’t have coriander so left it out. I didn’t have fresh bay leaves so I used dried. I simmered this for quite some time before we dived in. We ate it served over rice and it was delicious!
Michelle Wells
I was a little concerned about the spicy—- I forgot that the graram masala is spicy. But it mellowed after cooking. I also used a hand blender instead of a food processor— I cooked it for a few minutes on the stove to get the onion soft. I actually liked how some onion got pulverized and some didn’t. The tomato was no issue… I added a tsp or so of lemon pepper and a little more salt… Very very tasty. Definitely will make again.
Sandra Adams
I live and work in a predominantly Punjabi community. This recipe is good but it’s missing something. Not sure what though… I had it on Aloo Tikki. Not as spicy or powerful as the Chana Masala I’m used to.
Elizabeth Smith
Extremely delicious Doing a 28 day Vegan fast and got nothing but thumbs up from the kiddos!
David Dunn
Love these blended flavors! In spite of not having bay leaf it was a hit and a quick spicy side dish or main meal slathered on Naan bread.
Lauren Perkins
This stuff is incredible! Loved it!!!
Steven Collins
Not bad. I used canned tomatoes, so no need to add more water.
Elizabeth Romero
I made this recipe three times. The first two times I followed the directions and it came out awfully bitter. The first time I thought I had my oil too hot when I added my purée, so I made sure to watch my pot the second time. The last time I caramelized my onions before adding in minced garlic and tomatoes and cooking it before I blend (I ran out of fresh ginger and tomatoes so I subbed dried and canned). I slowly added spices until I was happy (too much spice can also make it bitter ). It came out great. You have to cook out the bitter taste of the onion for this recipe to work.
Melanie David
Very delicious and very easy. I too substituted 14 tsp ground ginger. The garlic, onions, and chili I just cooked down in olive oil so it would disappear into the gravy. In place of the tomato I just used an 8 oz can of unseasoned tomato sauce. Between the sauce and the water in the can of chickpeas the gravy came out perfectly without the need to add any water. I then added some additional diced tomato and diced onion as the chickpeas were simmering for texture.
Harold Becker
Made this for the 1st time tonight and it was a huge hit! We’re not super-spicy and it was a nice middle ground for those of us who like a little more heat and those who don’t. Those who like milder wrapped it in naan to reduce the heat. Followed the recipe as written and will definitely add this to our Indian food rotation! Thanks!
Dr. Jeremy Greer
Very tasty and not too hard to make. I will make it again

 

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