This Chana Masala, also known as Chole Masala, is an authentic North Indian, Punjabi style curry made with white chickpeas, freshly powdered spices, onions, tomatoes and herbs. Naturally vegan and packed with healthy minerals, protein and fiber, this delicious Chole Recipe can be ready in just 45 minutes minus the soaking time of chickpeas.
What is Chana Masala
Chana Masala is a popular Indian dish of white chickpeas in a spicy and tangy gravy. In North India, this dish is called ‘chole masala,’ or simply ‘chole’. No matter what you call it, this is a tasty vegetarian curry dish that you should definitely try making yourself!
Chana is the Hindi word and chole is the Punjabi word for chickpeas. In Hindi, the word masala means a mixture of spices. When the word masala shows up in a dish – like this Chana Masala or Paneer Butter Masala, for example – it specifically refers to a spiced gravy.
This Chole recipe was originally inspired and adapted from Anita’s blog and posted in 2009. I can’t believe it has been so many years since the original posting!!!
Over the years, I have continued to perfect the recipe, making changes in proportions as well as ingredients. The result is this Chole Masala recipe, which has a good balance of spiciness, taste and flavor.
In the process, I also updated the pictures in the post and added a video making it even easier for you to follow along with me. Hooray!
This easy, lip-smacking Punjabi Chana Masala is one of the most tried and tested recipes on the blog. It has been made innumerable times by me as well as by many readers.
This Chole recipe reminds me of Chole Bhature, which is our favorite street food. Chole Bhature is a popular Punjabi dish where chana masala is served with a fried leavened puffed bread known as Bhatura (or plural bhature).
When living in Delhi and Gurgaon, we would get awesome Chole Bhature in many places. While I don’t live in those cities anymore, I still get strong cravings for street style Chole Bhature, and this recipe for chana masala hits the spot!
It tastes exactly like the North Indian street-side chana curry, minus the heat. We prefer our foods on the tamer side of the Scoville index, so I’ve made a milder masala gravy.
However, if you prefer spicier food, simply increase the quantity of red chili powder, green chillies and garam masala powder to get the flavor just right for your palate.
Why Soak Chickpeas
When you make any chickpea or Rajma (Kidney Bean Curry), it is always better to soak the beans or chickpeas overnight (or for at least 8 hours), which makes it easier to cook the legumes. Soaking beans or chickpeas also reduces the phytic acid, which is the element that causes bloating and flatulence.
Pro Tip: If you have forgotten to soak the chickpeas, you can speed up the process by adding them to a bowl of hot boiled water. Cover and soak for 1 to 2 hours.
In a pinch, you can also opt to use canned chickpeas instead. This will reduce the amount of cooking you have to do, but the trade-off is that you don’t get the opportunity to season the chickpeas with amla (Indian gooseberry) or tea bags.
Ingredients & Substitutes
- Dried Amla (Dried Indian Gooseberry) and Dry Pomegranate Seeds: The dried amla gives a dark color to the chole, along with a light tang. The pomegranate seeds give a sour taste. Find these ingredients at Indian specialty food stores or online at amazon.com.
- If you cannot find these ingredients, add dry mango powder (amchur powder) towards the end. In the absence of dry mango powder, you can also squeeze some lime or lemon juice towards the end to mimic the tanginess of amla and pomegranate seeds.
- You can also use a black tea bag to achieve the darker color that amla imparts. If you are not fussy about the dark color, then just cook the chickpeas in water with some salt or opt for canned chickpeas.
- Chana Masala Spices: what contributes to the flavors and aroma of this dish are the freshly ground chole masala spices. The whole spices are roasted until they get extra browned and are later ground.
- If possible, I always recommend making your own masala spice mixes from scratch. Whole spices are preferable to pre-ground spices, as they retain more of their naturally occurring oils. By making our own chana masala spice mix, we not only have control over the spiciness of the dish, but also the depth and quality of flavor.
How to make Chana Masala
This simple Chole recipe can be broken down into three easy steps.
Soak and Cook Chickpeas
1. Rinse 1 cup dried white chickpeas (a.k.a. chana or chole) in fresh water a couple of times. Then soak them overnight or for 8 to 9 hours in 3 cups of water.
Keep in mind to add enough water to take into account that the chickpeas increase in size during soaking.
After they have soaked, later drain all the water and again rinse the soaked chickpeas in fresh water for a couple of times.
2. Traditionally dried amla (Indian gooseberries) are added to impart a dark color to the chickpeas. Amla also gives a faint sourness to the stock. If you do not have dried amla, you can opt to add 1 black tea bag.
If you do not care about the dark color, then you can also just cook the chickpeas with salt and water, or opt to use drained canned chickpeas instead.
3. In a 3 litre stovetop pressure cooker, add the chickpeas along with 2 to 3 dried amla pieces or 1 black tea bag. Add 2.5 to 3 cups of water.
Note: Taj black tea bags work very well.
4. Season with ½ teaspoon salt. Stir very well.
5. Pressure cook the chickpeas for 12 to 15 whistles on medium heat. The chickpeas should be cooked well and softened enough that you can mash them with a spoon.
If you do not have a pressure cooker, then cook the chickpeas in a pot on the stovetop with plenty of water.
Depending on the quality and freshness of chickpeas, it can take up to 1 to 2 hours for the stovetop pan method.
Make Chole Masala Powder
6. Meanwhile, add all the whole spices for the chole masala to a pan or skillet. Begin to roast them on a low heat. The spices used for masala are the following:
- 2 black cardamoms
- 1 inch cinnamon
- 3 to 4 peppercorns
- 2 cloves
- 1 medium tej patta (Indian bay leaf) or 2 small tej patta
- ¼ teaspoon carom seeds (ajwain)
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- ½ teaspoon dry pomegranate seeds (if you do not have these seeds, then omit adding them at this step and add dry mango powder or lemon juice later as mentioned in the steps below. In the recipe video, dry mango powder is added.)
- 1 to 2 dry red chilies (preferably broken and seeds removed)
7. Stir often and roast the spices until they get extra browned, but not yet burnt. Don’t stop even after they become fragrant, as they need to get more browned than usual.
8. The extra browned and roasted spices are pictured below.
9. Let these roasted spices cool and then grind or powder them finely in a coffee grinder or in a dry grinder.
10. By now the chickpeas are cooked (pictured below). You will see a darker brown shade in the white chickpeas. Remove the amla pieces or the tea bag from the stock and discard them.
Make Chana Masala Gravy
11. Heat 1.5 to 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan or kadai (wok). Add ½ teaspoon ginger-garlic paste and sauté for some seconds or until their raw aroma goes away. You can use any neutral tasting oil.
12. Then add ⅓ cup finely chopped onions. Sauté stirring often till the onions soften and turn translucent or light brown.
13. Add ½ cup finely chopped tomatoes.
14. Sauté the tomatoes stirring often until they soften and the oil starts to leave the sides of the onion-tomato mixture.
15. Reduce the heat. Then add all of the powdered spices that we made, together with ½ teaspoon red chili powder and ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder.
At this point, you can also add ¼ teaspoon garam masala – which is optional though.
16. Mix very well. Then add 2 to 3 slit green chilies to the onion-tomato masala mixture.
17. Add the cooked and drained chickpeas. Reserve the stock.
18. Stir and mix very well.
19. Season with salt as per requirement. Mix again. Keep the addition of salt in check as salt is also there in the stock.
20. Add about 1 to 1.25 cups of reserved stock or water. Stir well.
21. For a thinner gravy, cover and simmer on low to medium heat. You can also cook chickpeas without the lid, causing the gravy to thicken and reduce.
Mash some chickpeas with the spoon to thicken the gravy. If you prefer an even thicker gravy, add less water or mash more chickpeas to release the starches.
You can keep the consistency you prefer. At home, we prefer chole recipe with a bit of gravy.
22. If you have not added dry pomegranate seeds while roasting the spices, then you need to add amchur powder (dry mango powder) now.
About 1 teaspoon amchur powder is enough. However, you can add less or more of it as per your taste. Stir the gravy very well.
If you do not have dry mango powder, then add ½ to 1 teaspoon lemon juice or according to your taste.
23. The chana masala is ready to be served.
24. Garnish with chopped onions and cilantro (coriander leaves).
Serve the Punjabi Chole Masala with fried Indian bread like bhatura or poori, together with a side of sliced onions, ginger julienne and lime or lemon wedges. Yum!
Serving Suggestions
As I mentioned earlier, I prefer my chana masala served with a poori or roti. Some great options are: tandoori roti, phulka, kulcha, bhatura or naan. Add some sliced onions and fresh lime or lemon and you have the perfect Indian meal!
If you are avoiding gluten, this chole recipe also tastes good with plain steamed Basmati or jeera rice.
Variations
There are many variations of chickpea curries made in Indian cuisine, but I like this Punjabi chana recipe that I have shared here the most. It tastes like the chana masala you get in the streets of Delhi and Punjab! Few more delicious variations you can try are:
- Pindi Chole – A dry, spiced and tangy version of chole made with chana masala powder. A special and unique recipe from Rawalpindi in Punjab, Pakistan.
- Amritsari Chole – Another special variant from the city of Amritsar in Punjab, India. The gravy is made with onions, tomatoes and plenty of ground spices.
- Instant Pot Chana Masala – Easy one pot recipe made in the Instant Pot. No chana masala powder needed.
- Chickpea Curry – Simply delicious South Indian Recipe of chickpeas in a delightful curry base of roasted/toasted coconut and spices.
