Chana Masala / Chole Masala
2016-06-01 16:55:42
Serves 4
Chana masala is one of the many delicious dishes from the Punjab and now popular all over India. Spicy and “chatpata” this dish needs some prior planning as the chickpeas require soaking for at least 6 hours. Serve it with pooris, bhaturas, kulchas or you could also top aloo tikkis or samosas with this delicious chana masala and relish it as a snack.
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Cook Time
40 min
Total Time
40 min
Ingredients
- Dry red chilies – 3
- Cloves – 8 – 10
- Cinnamon sticks – 2
- Black peppercorns – 8-10
- Big cardamom – 3
- Anardana – 2 Tbsp
- Chickpeas – 3 cups
- Bay leaf – 2
- Tea bags – 2
- Water as required
- Oil – 3 Tbsp
- Onions – 1 cup, chopped
- Tomatoes – 1 cup,roughly chopped
- Green chilies – 2, roughly chopped
- Garlic – 2 Tbsp, chopped
- Ginger – 2 Tbsp, chopped
- Dry mango powder- 1 Tbsp
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Wash & soak chickpeas in water for at least 8 hrs or overnight.
- When you are ready to make chana masala, drain the water out and put chana in pressure cooker.
- Add bay leaf, tea bags and some salt. (Add little salt, we will also be adding some salt later, while making masala).
- Now add water (water should be 2” above the chana).
- Heat the pan on a medium flame and add dry red chilies, cloves, black peppercorns, big cardamom, cinnamon sticks and anardana.
- Sauté the whole spices on a low heat or till they are aromatic.
- Once spices are cold enough, put them in a mixer grinder jar and make into a course powder. Keep it aside.
- Take tomatoes & green chilies and puree them using the grinder jar and keep it aside.
- Now heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan.
- Once oil is hot, add chopped onions and cook till onions are brown in color.
- Once onions are brown , add chopped ginger and garlic, cook it for a minute. Add tomato, green chili paste and cook again till it separates oil.
- Add 3 Tbsp of whole spice masala and cook it for some time.
- In a meanwhile, open the chana cooker and take out tea bags & bay leaf.
- Add these boiled chana in masala and cook it for some time. Mash some of the chickpeas with the help of ladle.
- Now add Amchur powder and mix well.
- Add 1 glass of water and boil it for 10-15 minutes.
- Serve these delicious chana masala with pooris, bhaturas or kulchas.
Notes
- Always soak chana for 8- 10 hours before cooking as they need to be soften before cooking and is easy to digest.
- You can add lemon juice instead of dry mango powder. But the authentic chana masala recipe calls for amchur powder.
- Chana masala gets thick by time so if you are planning to eat it after several hours then don’t make it thick.
- Don’t throw away the water in which the chickpeas are boiled. Use them to make a gravy. It adds lot of flavor.
- Roast the spices on a low flame otherwise it may burn.
Hungry soul by Abha https://hungrysoulbyabha.com/
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