When I decided to make the butter chicken I had an idea about what I wanted to do with the leftovers but the butter chicken was only the first component that I required. Up next I wanted a bean dish and I immediately thought about doing a simple chickpea curry or a chana masala . Having made a few Indian curry dishes I noticed that chickpea curries have a lot of common ingredients so I was pretty familiar with the base of the recipe already. One things that did stand out was the use of amchoor or dried mango powder which I had never used before. Luckily I was able to track some amchoor down but if you cannot find it, some lemon juice should work as a substitute. (The amchoor adds a sour or tart note to the dish without adding any extra liquids.) Once again, despite having a long list of ingredients, this recipe is really easy to make and it takes very little time to do so. This chickpea curry is amazing by itself and it could easily served as a main or a side dish. I made sure to make and extra large batch so that I would have plenty of leftovers to use in my next dish.
Chickpea Curry (Chana Masala)
A quick, easy and tasty chickpea curry.
ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 large onion, finely diced
- 1 tablespoon garlic, grated
- 1 tablespoon ginger, grated
- 2 green chilies such as birds eye or chilies de arbol, chopped
- 2 teaspoons cumin, toasted and ground
- 2 teaspoons coriander, toasted and ground
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper or to taste
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon amchoor powder (optional)
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
- 2 cups tomato, diced or 1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 (19 ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- salt to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- cilantro (optional for garnish), chopped
directions
- Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat.
- Add the onion and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the garlic, ginger, chilies, cumin, coriander, cayenne, turmeric, amchoor and garam masala and saute until fragrant, about a minute.
- Add the tomatoes, water and chickpeas and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 10 minutes.
- Add the salt, garam masala and lemon juice and remove from heat.
A beautifully healthy dish! so colorful and appetizing.
Cheers,
Rosa
You truly are on a roll Kevin..Yummy Indian food..Looks delicious and the colors are fantastic..
Gayu
http://ensamayalarangam.blogspot.com
What a great recipe, Kevin! I was looking for some good vegetarian Indian dishes to make for my best friend when she comes visit… this will definitely be on the menu!
You are in an indian mood lately!! I do like this recipe- healthy and quick!
I love this abundance of Indian food! Forget side dish, I could eat this as a main meal!
When you say 2 cans and (28 oz), do you mean 28 oz total or 56 oz total? That is a lot of chickpeas!
This is actually one of my favorite microwaveable meals! Think Amy's brand has it as well as Trader Joe's. I would love to try making it at home =)
Im an indian & just got to have chana masal atleast once a month!! And I can say that ur recipe looksw authentic & tasty!!! I love it with mom`s fantastic bhaturas (deep fries indian flatbread) 🙂
Prathima Rao
Prats Corner
Maggie Vee: Glad you caught that! It should be 2 19 ounce cans.
That looks delicious, Kevin. Chana masala is a regular meal at my home. Try it with phulkas or bhaturas next time, though rice is a good option too.
cool post! great minds: we made this the other day, as we've been working our way through Yamuna Devi's veg Indian cookbook. Luckily we're in NYC so amchoor is available. Thanks
Great recipe! Surprisingly easy and quick- thanks Kevin!
I made this last night for dinner and really enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing!
Used this as an example to make my own curry dish. Came out great!
We made this last night, and loved it! Thank you!