Chana Masala is a very popular dish and is sure to be on every Indian restaurant menu. Chana Masala, which is also known as Chole, is a vegetarian dish made with garbanzos/chickpeas that is more a dry dish than a gravy. It’s traditionally a North Indian dish that’s also popular as a street food and is served with pooris, chapatis, naan or bhaturas which are different kinds of breads that accompany Indian food. And every region and household probably has its own take on the recipe for Chana Masala. The traditional recipe has a perfect blend of salty, spicy, and sour with a hint of sweetness. Although my momma may not approve, I make my Chana Masala with canned garbanzos. It just makes the dish so quick and easy to make and I can have it on the dinner table in less than 30 minutes. The ‘real’ way would be to soak the garbanzos overnight, cook them from scratch, and proceed with the recipe.
If you’ve tried my Indian Chicken Curry recipe, the base of this dish will be familiar to you: Fry mustard and cumin, then onion, garlic, ginger, then tomato paste and and finally the spices. The spices are different here though, because I use a prepared Chana Masala spice mix since that’s what I’ve found gives me that perfect combination of spicy, salty, sour, and sweet flavors each time I make this dish. If you prefer not to use the Chana Masala spice, which will be available at any Indian grocery store or online, check my notes at the end of the recipe to find a substitute using coriander, turmeric, chili powder, etc. One box of the Chana Masala spice mix will last you a while, and so I think it’s worth purchasing it if you can. Amchur is another spice that you can purchase at an Indian grocery store. It gives the dish a tangy taste. You can easily substitute lemon juice for the amchur, or if you like your Chana Masala less sour, eliminate it altogether. The chana masala spice mix has a bit of amchur in it already. Try it with Fried Potatoes, Kerala Style and with naan and plain yogurt on the side.
Chana Masala / Chole Ingredients
Chana Masala / Chole Stages of Cooking
And finally here’s the recipe. I hope you enjoy it and if you try it out, I’d love to hear back from you!
Chana Masala - Chole
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp black mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 1/2 cups chopped onions
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 1 Tbsp minced ginger
- 1/2 jalapeno pepper chopped finely (or to taste)
- 1 Tbsp chana masala spice mix **
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1 1/2 tsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp lemon juice or 1/4 tsp Amchur mango powder - optional
- 2 16- oz. cans garbanzo beans drained
- ¼ cup cilantro chopped
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Instructions
- Heat oil over medium-high heat in a medium saucepan.
- When oil is very hot, add mustard seeds and immediately cover the pan, allowing the mustard seeds to pop.
- Lower heat to medium and remove cover. Add cumin seeds.
- Immediately add onion, garlic, ginger and jalapeno; fry well until golden brown, stirring frequently. Lower the heat if necessary, to make sure onions caramelize and don't burn.
- Add tomato paste and, stirring frequently, cook until the oil separates and the mixture becomes paste-like, about 5 minutes; Add a teaspoon or two of hot water if the mixture starts sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Stir in spices and salt, fry briefly till fragrant. Add brown sugar and lemon juice / mango powder. Stir for 30 seconds. Add ½ cup water and garbanzo beans; bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer till thickened, about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Garnish with cilantro.
- Serve with rice or naan.
Notes
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Yoav M
Hi Neena. My father-in-law is now staying with us and he is vegan and likes Indian and Thai food very much. He has always enjoyed chana masala when we’ve gone to Indian restaurants so I decided to check to see if you had a chana masala recipe… and I found this. I was confident it would be delicious because all your recipes are and you didn’t disappoint one bit. He loved it!!! I’ll admit I’ve learned your recipes are a bit too spicy for my palette so I always cut the pepper and cayenne in half but it turned out to have just enough kick for me to enjoy it and he enjoyed it too even though he loves everything super spicy. Thanks as always for a great recipe!!!!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Yoav – thank you so much for sharing that. I’m really glad you found the recipe and liked it! I keep meaning to post an Instant Pot version of the recipe; it’s on the to-do list! You made my day 🙂
Neil
Amazing!!! Thank you. 🙂
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thanks Neil! I don’t get a lot of people trying out my non-Instant Pot recipes (oldies but goodies) so you made my day!
Kate
I made your Chana Masala recipe in the Instant Pot that I found on the Red & Honey website, and it was tremendous! Do you have an Instant Pot dal recipe? Would love to try to make dal in my Instant Pot, but not really sure where to begin since I’ve never made it before either in the IP or the stovetop. Thanks for considering a blog post on dal! 🙂
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Kate, how great that you found me through that recipe 🙂 Yes, I will add dal to the list of requests. I don’t have one yet. Thanks for your comment!
Kate
Cool! Thank you!
Anar
I noticed you tend to use tomato paste instead of tomatoes in your recipes. Any particular reason for this?
Thanks,
Anar
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Anar, thanks for your question. There are a couple of reasons. When my mom lived in places where tomatoes weren’t always in season, she used tomato paste as a substitute because it gave a fresher taste than tomatoes from cold storage which are kind of mealy tasting. I got the recipes from her, and continued to use tomato paste. I always have tomato paste in my freezer: I open a can, freeze on wax paper in 1 tablespoon quantities and store in a ziploc bag. I also like that tomato paste gives a nice tomato flavor but a very smooth consistency. You can definitely substitute chopped tomatoes. When I use chopped tomatoes, I tend to give them a quick blend to make them smooth (because my mom does this too!). But that’s not necessary.
Aya
Hi!
Can I replace chana masala spice mix with garam masala spice mix? And would regular mustard seeds be as good?
Can’t wait to try this recipe!
Thanx!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Aya, garam masala is pretty different from the chana masala spice mix but you can definitely add it in (I do sometimes). However, only add in about 1 teaspoon or so, and add it in towards the end of cooking (about 5 min before). The notes section of the recipe has a substitute for chana masala spices – add in whichever of those spices that you have on hand. And yes, regular mustard seeds will be just fine.
Joyce
Ahhhhhhh I need to try this! I have a lot of garbanzo beans at home that I have no clue what to do with, I kept telling myself I should either make a hummus or a curry but I am terrible at making indian food, all my curries end up tasting the same! or very bland. I am so glad I found you and that I found this! 🙂 I can be your young grasshopper and you can teach me the ways! 🙂 Yay haha
Paint the Kitchen Red
Oh, I can’t imagine you being terrible at making something Joyce! You probably just didn’t have the right recipe! Let me know if you try it out.
Elizabeth
I loveee chana masala! Yours look so good! I’m so bad at making Indian food, heh.