Chole/ Chana Masala (Chickpea Curry)

chana masala

Besides other dishes like matar paneer, aloo ki puri, I made chana masala or chole for holi lunch. I
like eating chana with rice but today we ate it with puri. Here is my recipe of chana masala.
Recipe of chana masala
1 1/2 cups kabuli chana (chole/ chickpeas/garbanzo beans)
2 medium tomatoes
2 medium onions
2 small potatoes- boiled, peeled and cubed
5-6 cloves garlic
1 inch piece ginger
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
2 bay leaves (tej patta)
3 black peppercorns (kali mirch)
3-4 cloves (laung)
2 black cardamoms (moti elaichi)
1 tsp amla powder (dried Indian gooseberries powder)
1 tsp chana masala powder
Salt to taste
A pinch of asafoetida (hing)
1 1/2 tbsp oil

chana masala

1. Soak kabuli chana overnight. Drain and put them in a pressure cooker with enough water and salt. Let
1 whistle come, then turn the heat to medium. Boil the chole for about 1/2 an hour in total.
2. Add dried amla powder and potatoes to the boiled chana and mix.
3. Mince onion, garlic and ginger to form a paste. Puree the tomatoes.
4. Heat oil in a karahi (heavy bottomed vessel) and add cumin seeds, bay leaves, cloves, black
peppercorns. Fry for 1 minute and then add hing.
5. Add onion paste and saute till brown. Add coriander powder, red chilli powder and chana masala
powder. Saute for 1 minute.
6. Add tomato puree and saute till oil begins to separate.
7. Add boiled chana along with the cooking liquid. Let it come to boil. Lower heat and simmer till much
of the water evaporates and you get thick gravy while stirring in between.

Note- Dried amla powder is added to get the blackish color. I add it to the boiled channa and not before
boiling since this is a sour powder and hinders with the boiling of chickpeas. If amla powder is not
available, you can add 2 tea bags and boil them along with chana. Discard them after boiling.
Since we are using 3 sour things i.e. amla powder, tomatoes and chana masala powder, take care not to
add any of these items in excess Otherwise chole will be too sour to taste.