Chana Masala

Chana Masala is a traditional North Indian chickpea curry with onions, garlic, ginger and tomatoes. It's basically chickpeas in a spicy gravy and goes well with roti, naan, rice, batura or chapathi.

Cook Time:

25 Minutes

Yield:

4 Servings

Ease of Cooking:

Easy

What all you'll need?

• Chickpeas/Garbanzo Beans - 1 cup (soaked overnight in water)
• Onions - 4 sliced into small pieces
• Ginger - 1" piece
• Garlic - 4-5 pods
• Green chili - 2 chopped into small pieces
• Tomatoes - 2 cut into small pieces
• Oil - 5 tablespoons
• Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Bay Leaf - 1
• Cinnamon Stick - 1 small piece
• Cloves - 2-3
• Cardamom - 2 pods
• Tamarind Paste - 1-2 teaspoons
• Turmeric Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Chili Powder - 2 teaspoons
• Coriander Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Black Pepper Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Chana Masala - 1 teaspoon
• Kasuri Methi (Dried Fenugreek)Leaves - 1 teaspoon
• Salt - 1 teaspoon or to taste
• Water - 2 cups
• Cilantro - A bunch chopped 
• Tea Bag - 1

Tea bag is added to the chickpeas while its cooking in the pressure cooker. The tea bag provides a dark brown color to the chickpeas.

Let's cook it!!

1. Add chickpeas to a pressure cooker. Add bay leaves, cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamom, salt and tea bag to the chickpeas. Cook chickpeas in the pressure cooker with 2 cups of water.  Drain the chick peas and reserve the water for later.
2. Grind ginger and garlic to a paste in a mixer and keep it aside.
3. Heat oil in a pan. When the oil is hot, add cumin seeds and wait for it to splutter. Add onions to the pan and saute for a couple of minutes until its light brown in color. (Adding a little bit of salt to the onions will speed up the cooking process)
4. Add ginger garlic paste(Step 2) and green chili to the pan and saute until the raw smell is gone.
5. Add tomatoes to the pan and saute until its mushy and blends in with the onions and ginger garlic paste.
6. Add turmeric powder, chili powder, coriander powder, black pepper powder, chana masala and kasuri methi leaves to the pan and saute them well so that the spices won't get burned. After a couple of minutes you will see the oil on the sides of the pan.
7. Add cooked chickpeas and tamarind paste to the pan. Stir them well until everything is mixed together. Add reserved water to the curry depending on how much gravy you want for your chana masala.
8. Turn off the stove after a couple of minutes and add chopped cilantro. 
9. Enjoy it with roti, naan, chapathi, batura or rice.