Chana Masala is one dish I would love to try different recipes with variations. I loved this easy method of pressure cooking everything together which I learnt from my aunt recently. I have already posted chana masala with coconut a while back and this is another version without coconut….Now you have your choice of choosing between the two 🙂 This goes well poori , rotis or even any mild pulaos.
Chana Masala Recipe – Ingredients
Prep Time: 10 mins | Cook time: 20 mins | Serves: 2
Chana – 3/4 cup
Big Onion – 1 small sized chopped finely
Red Chilli Powder – 1.5 tsp
Coriander powder – 3/4 tsp
Garam masala (or) Chana Masala powder – 1 tsp
Coriander leaves – just to garnish
Lemon juice – from half a lemon
Water – 2.5 cups in total
Salt – to taste
To saute and grind:
Oil – 2 tsp
Tomatoes – 3 medium sized chopped roughly
Big Onion – 1 medium sized chopped roughly
Ginger – 1 inch piece
Garlic – 6 cloves
Fennel Seeds – 1 tsp
Pepper – 1/2 tsp
To temper:
Oil – 1.5 tbsp
Cinnamon – 1/2 inch piece
Cloves – 2
Bayleaf – 1/2
Method:
- Soak chana overnight or atleast for 8 hours.Pressure cook chana with enough water(say 1.5 cups) for 5 whistles or until soft,Set aside.In a pan heat oil – add onion, tomato, ginger, garlic and saute till mushy and raw smell of tomatoes leaves. Allow it to cool, then add fennel seeds and pepper corns along with this in a mixer.
- Grind it to a fine paste.Set aside. In a pressure cooker heat oil – add the items under ‘to temper’ then add onions and fry till golden brown.Then add the tomato onion paste.
- Add the spice powders, mix well.Once the raw smell of masalas leave add chana along with the cooked water to this mixture and pressure cook for 1 whistle in medium flame.Add required salt.
- Once done, open and add more water if the gravy is too thick – I added remaining 1 cup water and allowed it to boil in sim for 5mins.Once oil seperates and desired consistency is reached, Garnish with coriander leaves,lemon juice and switch off.
Serve hot with bhatura / rotis!
My Notes:
- Adjust water according to the consistency you want the gravy to be.
- Pressure cook chana until soft as in the last stage we are going to cook for just 1 whistle. This way I find the masalas blend very well with chana.
- I dont usually add chana masala powder, always use homemade garam masala powder instead.
- Adding pepper is purely optional, if you dont like the flavour then just skip it.
Divya Kudua says
May 22, 2013 at 4:12 amYum,I can have the channa masala by itself.Simple recipe,I am definitely trying this soon:)
Hamaree Rasoi says
May 22, 2013 at 4:31 amDelicious and mouthwatering chana masala.
Deepa
Ms.Chitchat says
May 22, 2013 at 4:36 amYum yum yummy channa, love the rich color and the texture. Lovely clicks.
AparnaRajeshkumar says
May 22, 2013 at 4:40 amyummy one ! lovely combo too !
Wer SAHM says
May 22, 2013 at 6:50 amchole masala looks too yummy….
Nisa Homey says
May 22, 2013 at 7:47 amGravy looks so creamy and thick….love your pics too.
suhaina aji says
May 22, 2013 at 9:09 amgravy looks so thick and yumm..love it,,
Saranya Balaji says
May 22, 2013 at 9:22 amWow! looks so yumm that too without coconut…lovely texture…
Sheetal Bhatia says
May 22, 2013 at 11:29 amIt looks do yummy, very tempting.. I am definitely going to try this once at home.. http://www.psocial.in/category/food-and-recipes
Rumana Ambrin says
May 22, 2013 at 12:47 pmVery creamy looking curry…
Kadhyaa says
May 22, 2013 at 2:11 pmsimply irrestible. bookmarked
Sireesha Puppala says
May 22, 2013 at 11:32 pmI too love this channa masala a lot no need to cut veggies yet can get a healthy dish for rotis..you have made it so beautiful sharmi..
JEYASHRI SURESH says
May 23, 2013 at 6:25 amOne of my friend makes channa in this way. Smooth gravy perfectly suitable for kids. Nice clicks
snaveena madhan says
May 23, 2013 at 12:23 pmI have tried this recipe,came very well and evryone liked it..followed the procedure as it is…Everyone should this….:) Irresistible taste..
Anusha Madhavan says
May 23, 2013 at 5:00 pmTried this recipe and it turned out very tasty.
Thanks for this yummy Channa Masala recipe !
Anusha
Anusha Madhavan says
May 23, 2013 at 5:02 pmTried this and loved it.
Thank you for this delicious Channa Masala recipe !!
ShravsCookBookBlog says
May 24, 2013 at 2:44 pmmouth watering…:)
Sireesha Puppala says
May 25, 2013 at 12:37 pmIt's my favourite .lovely texture and ur recipe is very simple to understand too
Meera says
May 27, 2013 at 7:57 amI am going to try this out. I don't make the onion-tomato paste and also don't do the last step pressure-cooking. What I do is take some channa, grind it in the mixie and add it to the gravy. That way the gravy is thick.
Nandini says
May 28, 2013 at 6:48 pmI tried your recipe and the family loved it! Thank you 🙂
-Nandini
Nandini says
May 28, 2013 at 6:49 pmI tried your recipe and the family loved it! Thank you 🙂
-Nandini
Su says
May 29, 2013 at 12:32 amThis came out awesome! I usually make less than average chole masala..but this time! Wow! I cannot wait to get great complements from my hubby!!
yamuna says
May 30, 2013 at 4:18 amHI sharmi,
u r simple awesome at ur work…… iam big fan of urs…. whenever i am in confusion what to cook … ur blog is SOS for me…. whatever i tried from ur recipe index did wonders for me…… thanx….. n keep postng n teaching me…..
regards yamuna
Poonam Khatri says
June 17, 2013 at 8:37 pmSharmi, the 6 garlic cloves that you add to temper just stay there? I don't want to eat a whole clove thinking it's chick pea!
SHARMILEE J says
June 18, 2013 at 3:35 amI used the garlic for sauteing and grinding along with onion and tomato so it will not stay as whole….Please check the method again 🙂
Thenmozhi Boopathy says
July 20, 2013 at 1:47 pmsuperb recipe.,i did this., it came out very well.thank you.
Revathi Rangaswamy says
July 30, 2013 at 4:40 amhi.. I have cooked channa many time, but the idea of using fennel is a good idea and am sure will enhance the taste and aroma of the channa
Revathi Rangaswamy says
July 30, 2013 at 4:41 amhi.. I have cooked channa many time but the idea of adding fennel is very nice as im sure it would enhance the flavor and aroma of the dish itself
Sounak Biswas says
August 22, 2013 at 1:04 pmReferring to the ingredients section….. do you mean 3 or 4 cups of chana or 3/4th cup of chana ? Also 3/4 of soaked chana or unsoaked chana because the size differs after soaking it.
SHARMILEE J says
August 22, 2013 at 1:21 pmIt is 3/4 cup..And please go through the first step…I have clearly mentioned to pressure cook…so is 3/4 cup uncooked chana
Sneha says
September 13, 2013 at 12:14 pmJust tried the recipe… Loved it…
I had to make modifications as my chana to gravy propotion was not right as my maid had put in the chana for cooking and i dumped the whole chana from the cooker into my pan..
But none the less.. it turned out Good.. and i am sure that with the right proportions it would have been a winner..
Thank you soo much for the wonderful recipe.. 🙂
Geetha Priya says
December 4, 2013 at 3:49 pmI tried this recipe today al my family member liked it 🙂 it came out very wel ::)
Thanks sharmiee 🙂
Vandana Rao says
February 11, 2014 at 1:29 pmwow looks yummy
Gayathri Sivayoganathan says
February 21, 2014 at 3:05 amI tried out. The outcome was excellent. Im new to Indian cuisine. Its very much easy to follow the steps.
Arthi Saravanan says
April 7, 2014 at 10:54 amI tried this recipe yesterday and it came out so well…..I am basically very bad at cooking and could'nt believe it came out so fine…. I am going to try all your recipes going forward…. Thanks a lot Sharmi… this is going change my life
Jayapriya Sajeevan says
April 10, 2014 at 8:50 amAfter grinding the masala to paste should i use again the garlic cloves ,fennel seeds and pepper again while tempering will it not have a strong masala taste.
SHARMILEE J says
April 10, 2014 at 1:49 pmFor tempering its a very small quantity so it will not give a strong flavour….
ashoka devanampriya says
April 26, 2014 at 11:37 amThanks for sharing this. This turned out wonderfully yummy!!
nagarathna keerthi says
April 30, 2014 at 7:49 ami love it thankq
Unknown says
July 20, 2014 at 4:26 amTried this 2nd time. It was awesome. My daughter n husband both enjoyed. Thanks a ton!
priyaas says
September 10, 2014 at 3:27 pmSharmi u added gariic , fennel seeds and pepper in tempering instead of adding it in saute and grind . Change it .
SHARMILEE J says
September 10, 2014 at 4:14 pmThank you Priya, have changed it now
Rashida Shaikh says
September 18, 2014 at 12:08 pmI too had cooked chana, yet to post…but your method is different…nice post
"அம்மு" says
November 19, 2014 at 6:12 pmHey sharmi, my hubby loved it 10/10 🙂 Thanks for sharing. I used marati moggu, star anise, black elakkai while seasoning, jeera powder and little kasoori methi for the final boil..
kamalaveni says
November 30, 2014 at 3:57 pmHey sharmi, colourful channa, give the onion and tomotto in grams
Jacqui Manini - Hills says
February 13, 2015 at 3:43 pmThanks!! this was really nice!
Jacqui Manini - Hills says
February 13, 2015 at 3:43 pmThanks so much! It was lovely
Petnas says
February 18, 2015 at 8:01 pmHi..may i know-2nd method add 'the temper items' and then add tomato onion paste.how many onions and tomatoes do u need for this actually?
SHARMILEE J says
February 21, 2015 at 11:07 amYou can search for channa masala for other recipe variations……..
Radha Ravuri says
March 1, 2015 at 5:32 pmHi, I tried this today and it turned out very tasty dish..my in – laws liked it too.. The masala smell is mouthwatering. Thank you!!
Abhinayah Ramesh says
April 9, 2015 at 4:12 amTried the dish twice, turned out good both attempts..yummy and healthy!thank u for the recepie
esby says
April 22, 2015 at 12:10 amGreat chole recipe! This has become my favorite chole recipe now. Tried making it twice, using canned chickpeas and both times it came out good. Thanks for the recipe!
Abdul Muthalib says
August 4, 2015 at 8:44 amtried this once it is very tasty and very easy cook, thank you for the recepie.
shana roshin says
November 11, 2015 at 10:51 amGreat recipe. Restaurant like channa masala. Tried twice.. Thanks!!
Poornima says
November 25, 2015 at 2:44 pmThank you
It turned out yum
prag says
June 1, 2016 at 3:53 amMade it today. Awesome. My daughter had an excellent breakfast
Unknown says
July 21, 2016 at 4:37 amI tried ur recipe…came out very well dear…
durga says
August 8, 2016 at 2:56 amThanks Sharmi, dish came out very good. Today is the first day I packed lunch for hubby and tried this dish came out good in 1st attempt itself. This rocks!
Unknown says
December 9, 2016 at 11:51 amHey thanks for the receipe, first time this dish has come out nice n yummy, did many times before, but no luck
Sonya Valadares says
December 9, 2016 at 11:52 amHey thanks for the receipe, first time this dish has come out nice n yummy, did many times before, but no luck
Arjun Rishi says
January 4, 2017 at 1:20 pmNice post, I liked it and enjoyed reading it, Thanks for sharing this information.
cooks in chennai
sweta says
February 2, 2017 at 11:29 ami tried it. It tasted super yummy yummy…i followed exact recipe… everyone loved it… thank u
Ramesh Pan says
June 14, 2017 at 11:35 amHere Channa is boiled 2 times in Cooker.
I think it will over cook in cooker for 2 times???!!
Sharmilee J says
July 5, 2017 at 7:42 amNo it will not, I have divided the whistles.Cooking chana along with gravy gives a great flavour and taste
R. Figueiredo says
August 15, 2017 at 9:01 amIn your notes, you mentioned you use home made garam masala instead of chana masala.Could you please share the ingredients with the quantity?Thank you.
Sharmilee J says
August 15, 2017 at 7:16 pmPlease check garam masala recipe post
Durga says
October 5, 2017 at 6:27 pmCan we add panner instead of channa in this recipe
Sharmilee J says
October 19, 2017 at 7:35 amyes you can, toast and add it after the gravy is almost done
Durga says
January 3, 2018 at 10:13 amHow much panner needed for this measurement
Sharmilee J says
January 15, 2018 at 11:35 am1 cup cubed paneer
Priya says
January 5, 2018 at 5:33 amSharmilee, tried this recipe today, came out really well and it was easy too. Thanks a lot! So far I never had success with channa masala but I made it and the whole family enjoyed it today. You are awesome!!!
yusa says
March 16, 2018 at 8:45 pmlooks yummy and tasty …your recipe is great and easy to make