Chana masala
Local name : छोले
Chickpeas coated in a tight tomato sauce, built on whole spices and sharpened with dried green mango powder.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 35 min
- Total
- 50 min
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Easy
Method
- Heat the oil in a wide pan and fry the cumin, cardamom, cinnamon and bay for 30 seconds, until fragrant.
- Add the onions and let them brown steadily for 10 minutes, stirring; that deep colour carries the whole dish.
- Stir in the garlic and ginger paste and cook 2 minutes more, until the raw smell goes.
- Pour in the blended tomatoes, ground coriander and chilli powder, and reduce over medium heat for 12 minutes, until the oil separates at the edges.
- Add the chickpeas, 150 ml water and salt, crush a handful of the chickpeas against the pan to thicken, and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.
- Finish with the amchur and garam masala, stir, and adjust the sourness and salt.
- Fish out the cinnamon and bay, scatter with coriander and red onion, and serve with rice or flatbread.
Unlike the coconut curries of the south, chana masala is deliberately dry: the sauce should cling to the chickpeas rather than drown them. Amchur gives the sharp North Indian sourness; a squeeze of lemon will stand in.
