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Chana Masala

Kabuli chana in an onion-tomato gravy. Soften the chickpeas before the tomato, then finish with amchur or lemon.

North India · Punjab
  • chana
  • chickpeas
  • weeknight
  • pantry

The chickpeas should crush between your fingers before any tomato goes near them. Chana masala is those beans in an onion-tomato gravy, with amchur or lemon at the end.

In Punjab the same chickpeas often become chole, a darker pot eaten with bhature, the fried bread. This version is the weeknight gravy for rice or roti, and it reheats.

Soften the chickpeas first

Dried kabuli chana want a long soak, then a simmer until one bean crushes and the center is creamy. Tomato, amchur, and lemon keep the skins firm if they go in early, so add them after the chickpeas are soft. Canned chickpeas are already soft. Two 15-ounce cans, drained, stand in for 1 cup of dried beans. Kala chana, the smaller brown chickpea, stays firmer. Use the larger cream chickpea here.

Pale gold onion, then the sour finish

Cumin goes into the fat until the seeds crackle and darken one shade. Cook the onion to pale gold: sweet at the edges, still a little soft. Ginger and garlic follow, just until the raw smell fades. Ground coriander, turmeric, and chilli need only a moment. If the pan looks dry, add a spoon of water so the powders do not scorch, then the tomato. Cook until the pieces collapse and a spoon leaves a short track. The longer version of that pan is How to Cook an Onion-Tomato Masala Base.

Simmer the chickpeas in that masala with some of their cooking liquid. Mash a spoonful against the side of the pot if the gravy looks thin. Garam masala goes in at the end so the aroma stays in the pot. Amchur, dried green mango powder, or a squeeze of lemon is the sour edge. Some Punjabi pots cook the beans with two pieces of dried amla, or one plain black tea bag, so they turn darker. Take the amla or the tea bag out before you drain. Anardana, dried pomegranate seeds, can do the sour job in that style: use 1 teaspoon of the powder in place of the amchur.

Further reading

Prep
15 min, plus an overnight soak
Cook
1¼–2 hours (35–45 min with canned)
Serves
4

Ingredients

  • 1 cupdried kabuli chana (white chickpeas) — or about 2½–3 cups cooked, or two 15-ounce cans, drained
  • to covercold water, for soaking — by a few inches; skip with canned
  • about 4 cupswater, for cooking the chickpeas — fresh water after the soak, enough to cover by about 2 inches; skip with canned
  • 1 tsp, plus moresalt — 1 tsp in the bean water; start the gravy with ½ tsp and taste
  • 3 tbspneutral oil or ghee
  • 1 tspcumin seeds
  • 1 largeonion — finely chopped
  • 1 tbspginger-garlic paste — or 1 tbsp minced ginger and 3 garlic cloves
  • 1½ tspground coriander
  • ½ tspturmeric
  • ½–1 tspKashmiri chilli powder — mild powder, for color; for a hotter pot use ¼–½ tsp hot chilli powder instead
  • 2 mediumtomatoes — chopped, or 1 cup crushed canned tomato
  • 1–1½ cupschickpea cooking liquid or water
  • ½ tspgaram masala
  • ½–1 tspamchur — or 1 tbsp lemon juice, or 1 tsp anardana powder
  • small handfulfresh cilantro — chopped

Method

  1. Rinse the dried chickpeas. Cover them with cold water by a few inches and soak 8 to 12 hours. If they will sit longer than that, refrigerate them, and cook within a day of starting the soak. Drain. If you are using cooked or canned chickpeas, drain about 2½–3 cups, discard the can liquid, and start when the oil goes in the pot.
  2. Put the soaked chickpeas in a medium pot, cover them with fresh water by about 2 inches (about 4 cups), and add 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, skim the foam, and simmer partly covered until a chickpea crushes easily and the center is creamy, often 45–70 minutes. Add hot water as needed so they stay submerged. In a stovetop pressure cooker, once it comes to pressure, lower the heat and cook 12–15 minutes, then let the pressure fall before you open it. An electric cooker needs the same 12–15 minutes at high pressure, then a natural release. Test a chickpea. If the center is chalky, add enough water to cover the chickpeas if the pot looks dry, seal it, and cook another 5 minutes.
  3. Ladle out 1–1½ cups of the cooking liquid and set it aside. Then drain the chickpeas into a bowl. That liquid goes into the gravy.
  4. Heat the oil or ghee in a wide pot over medium. Add the cumin seeds. Stir until they crackle, darken one shade, and smell nutty, 30–60 seconds. Do not let them turn black.
  5. Add the onion and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring often, until the edges are pale gold and the onion has softened, often 8–12 minutes.
  6. Add the ginger-garlic paste. Stir until the raw smell fades, about 1 minute. Lower the heat. Add the ground coriander, turmeric, and chilli powder. Stir a few seconds. If the powders look dry, add a spoon of water so they do not scorch.
  7. Add the tomatoes. Cook until they collapse, the bubbling slows, and a spoon dragged through the pan leaves a short track, often 8–12 minutes.
  8. Add the chickpeas and 1–1½ cups of the saved cooking liquid, or water if the chickpeas were canned. If you cooked the chickpeas yourself, add ½ teaspoon salt. If they came from a can, taste before you add any. Simmer uncovered 15–20 minutes, until the gravy looks spoonable. Mash a few chickpeas against the side of the pot if it stays thin.
  9. Turn off the heat. Stir in the garam masala and the cilantro, plus the amchur, lemon juice, or anardana. Taste for salt and sourness. Rest a few minutes, then serve with rice or roti.

Notes

  • Canned chickpeas: drain two 15-ounce cans and discard the liquid. Use water in the gravy and taste before you salt. From the oil onward, the pot needs about 35–45 minutes.
  • Older dried beans take longer. Keep simmering, or give the pressure cooker another 5 minutes, until the center is creamy. Keep the tomato out until then. Acid firms the skins.
  • If the beans are old and still chalky after that extra cooking, add a small pinch of baking soda to the bean water and simmer. More than a pinch turns the pot soapy and slippery.
  • For a darker Punjabi color, add one plain black tea bag, or two pieces of dried amla, to the bean water. Take them out before you drain. They color the chickpeas.
  • If you use a jar of chole masala, skip the ground coriander, chilli powder, and amchur. Stir in 1–2 teaspoons when the ground spices would have gone in. Shop blends are often hotter. Taste before you add garam masala.