Chana masala, chole masala, channay, chholay: no matter you name it, this has truthful declare to be the preferred curry in India, the place it’s offered on the streets, served at events and eaten always of day from breakfast to late-night snack. Low-cost, nutritious and straightforward to make in amount, it reheats properly and, most significantly, tastes nice.
Prep 15 min
Cook dinner 40 min (if utilizing tinned chickpeas)
Serves 4-6
450g drained cooked chickpeas (or simply beneath 2 x 400g tins), or 200g dried chickpeas
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda, if utilizing dried chickpeas
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 massive onion
1 tsp cumin seeds
6 garlic cloves
25g root ginger
2-4 inexperienced chillies, to style
30g contemporary coriander
1 tbsp floor coriander
1-2 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp floor turmeric
1 x 400g tin plum tomatoes
1½ tsp fantastic salt
1 tsp garam masala (see step 9)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 If utilizing dried chickpeas …
Soak the dried chickpeas, if utilizing, in chilly water in a single day, ideally with a half-teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda added, then drain, put in a pan, cowl generously with chilly water and convey to a simmer. Skim off any scum, flip down the warmth and prepare dinner till tender – how lengthy this takes will rely on the age of the chickpeas. Be certain that there’s at all times no less than 500ml liquid within the pan. As soon as the chickpeas are tender, pour 500ml cooking liquor right into a jug, then drain off the remainder.
2 … and if utilizing tinned
If, nevertheless, you’re utilizing tinned chickpeas, put them in a pan with 500ml water (you may make a few of that quantity up with the liquid from the tin), convey to a simmer and prepare dinner for 5 minutes.
3 Saute the onion
Peel and finely chop the onion. Put the oil in a big, heavy-based pan over a medium warmth and, as soon as it’s sizzling, add the cumin seeds and fry, stirring in order that they don’t burn, till fragrant. Add the onion and switch the warmth down, then prepare dinner, stirring commonly, till comfortable and golden.
4 Make the curry paste
Whereas the onion is cooking, peel and roughly chop the garlic and ginger, then put them in a mortar or mini chopper with the chillies (stalks eliminated however seeds and pith left in, until you actually don’t like warmth) and about 25g of the contemporary coriander. Grind or blitz to a reasonably easy paste, including a splash of water if obligatory.
5 Stir within the paste and spices
Scrape the paste into the onion pan and fry, stirring, for a few minutes, then add the bottom coriander, chilli powder and turmeric (and a splash extra oil if the combination seems to be at risk of catching), and prepare dinner, nonetheless stirring, for a few minutes extra.
Roughly chop the tomatoes if utilizing complete ones (if in case you have entry to ripe contemporary tomatoes, you should utilize them as an alternative).
6 Add the tomatoes and chickpeas
Add the tomatoes to the pan, stir within the chickpeas and their cooking water and the salt, then flip up the warmth to convey the gravy to a vigorous simmer. Flip down the warmth to medium low, and go away to bubble away for about 20 minutes, till barely thickened. Stir within the garam masala (see step 9 if you need to make your personal) and lemon juice, and test the seasoning.
7 Ending touches
Flip off the warmth and go away the chana masala to cool barely, then roughly chop the remaining coriander leaves, scatter on prime and serve.
Chana masala is commonly served with flatbreads similar to chapati, or pav buns, poori or rice, and with raita and/or a kachumber salad of chopped onions, cucumber and tomatoes, however it additionally makes a great vegetarian aspect dish.
8 Alternate options
Substitute 50g of the dried chickpeas with chana dal for a barely thicker consistency. In the event you want issues milder, stir in a few spoonfuls of plain full-fat yoghurt. And bulk out the dish, if want be, by including two medium potatoes, peeled and reduce into chunks, to the pan in step 6 (by which case you might want to prepare dinner the curry for longer, and add just a little extra water).
9 DIY garam masala
To make your personal deliciously fragrant garam masala, as per Madhur Jaffrey’s recipe, very barely tailored for practicality, put the seeds from eight cardamom pods in a spice grinder or mortar with a teaspoon of black peppercorns, cloves and cumin seeds (ideally black, however brown will do), a stick of cinnamon and a 3rd of a nutmeg, finely grated, then grind to a powder.
