Chana masala recipe | How to make chana masala
Chana Masala recipe – flavourful and delicious side dish made with chickpeas and onion tomato base gravy in a pressure cooker. This dish can be had with parathas, chapathi, ghee rice or poori.
Chana Masala has its own variation at each different state of India and this one is my own style of making it. Learnt the idea of grinding the cooked chickpeas from one famous star chef.
Trust me, it adds up more taste to the curry when grinding a few chickpeas along with the masala and adding it back to the gravy. Not only that it imparts exclusive flavor but also thickens the gravy.
It is one of the quickest chana gravy that I have been following and is tasty and simple too.
Some of the popular curry recipes with legumes,
- Kerala kadala curry
- Thrissur kootu curry
- kadala-masala-curry
- Dry peas curry with potatoes
- Pujabi Rajma chawal
How to make chana masala?
Firstly, we need to soak the chana/kabuli chana overnight. You can also use the black ones. But, either of it needs overnight soaking.
Generally, it is cooked separately and added to the curry but I always prefer to cook the chana with the masala so that the flavor gets imparted in it.
We need to prepare the base masala and add the soaked chana to it. pressure cook until soft. grind a few chana and add it back and it is done in a breeze.
Quick video of making the chickpeas masala
Chana masala recipe
Chana masala recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1/4 no bay leaf
- 1 inch cinnamon
- 3 no cloves
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 2 no cardamom
- 2 medium onion ground to paste
- 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 3 medium tomatoes ground to paste
- salt to taste
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 1/4 tsp cumin powder
- 1 cup chana soaked overnight
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 tsp Kasuri methi crushed
Instructions
- Soak the chana overnight in enough water.
- heat oil in a cooker, add cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and fennel seeds.
- saute the onion paste till brown.
- Further, add ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell leaves.
- Add tomato paste, salt and fry till the tomatoes are well cooked.
- Add all the spice powders: turmeric, coriander powder, chilli powder, cumin powder, and garam masala.
- cook in simmer until oil leaves from the masala.
- At this stage, drain and add the soaked chana, salt, enough water and mix well.
- pressure cook for 8-10 whistles on medium-high heat.
- open and take out a few chana along with masala. grind it coarsely.
- add the ground paste back into the cooker along with crushed Kasuri methi. mix well.
- give it a boil and put off the stove. serve it hot!
Video
How to make Chana masala recipe?
To make this chana masala recipe, Firstly, Heat oil in a cooker, add all the whole spices – cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, fennel seeds, cumin seeds followed by Onion puree.
Cook in simmer until the onions start turning brown.
Further, add ginger garlic paste and fry again until raw smell leaves.
When the onion- ginger and garlic masala is well browned, add the tomato puree, salt and cook till the tomatoes are well blended and cooked.
At this stage, add all the spice powders: turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala and fry the masala till the oil leaves from the masala.
Drain the overnight soaked chana and mix well with the masala.
Pour enough water and salt. mix well. close and pressure cook for 5-6 whistles on a medium-high flame.
Open once the pressure settles on its own. take out a few chana along with the masala. grind it coarsely and add it back into the curry.
Lastly, sprinkle a few Kasuri methi and give it a boil for 1-2 minutes. Turn off the stove and Serve it hot!
