Chickpeas simmer in a tangy tomato sauce loaded with a blend of fragrant spices in this flavorful Indian stew. For best results, we recommend using a mortar and pestle to create the garlic paste. We like to serve our chana masala with our cumin cauliflower rice , basmati rice, or naan.
How To Make This Recipe
Chickpeas take center stage in this fragrant masala. As we gather our ingredients, we’re bringing a heap of herbs and spices to this dish. Our aromatics include garlic, ginger, onion, lemon, and jalapeno. We add depth and complexity with the help of garam masala, cumin, coriander, cayenne, paprika, and tumeric. Finally, we round out the dish with petite diced tomatoes.
Prepare Garlic-Ginger Paste
We start by pounding our garlic, ginger, cilantro, and jalapeño into a paste using our mortar and pestle. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, you can also pulse this mix together in your food processor.
Simmer The Masala
Once we’ve prepared our garlic-ginger paste, we warm a large skillet over medium heat. We then sauté our onions in coconut oil until just browned. Next, we stir in our garlic-ginger paste and continue to cook for another minute. Once fragrant, we reduce our heat to medium-low and add our cayenne, coriander, cumin, garam masala, paprika and turmeric. Again, we cook these spices for another minute to knock back that powdery “dried spice” flavor.
Now that our masala base is ready, we add our chickpeas, tomatoes, water, and salt along with half of our lemon juice. We give it a quick stir, cover, and allow the chickpeas to simmer for 10 minutes. We then give the chana masala a little taste. If we feel we need to brighten the flavor, we add in a little more lemon juice to taste.
Ready To Serve
Finally, we remove our chana masala from the heat and serve. Dinner’s ready! We like to serve our chana masala with our cumin cauliflower rice , basmati rice, or naan.
Recipe Card for Chana Masala
Here’s the recipe card for Chana Masala. Print, share or save!
Chana Masala
Equipment
- Mortar and pestle
- Large skillet
Ingredients
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon ginger minced
- 1/2 cup cilantro fresh, chopped
- 1 each jalapeno seeded, minced
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne or to taste
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 2 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 2 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 2 cans chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 1 can petite diced tomatoes
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 medium lemon juiced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Start by pounding the garlic, ginger, cilantro and jalapeño into a paste in a mortar and pestle. NOTE: If you do not have a mortar and pestle, process in a small food processor or smash them on a cutting board using a rolling pin or the bottom of a heavy coffee mug.
- In a large skillet, sauté onions in coconut oil over medium heat until just browned.
- Stir in the garlic paste mixture and continue to sauté for another minute.
- Reduce heat to medium-low. Mix in the cayenne, coriander, cumin, garam masala, paprika and turmeric. Continue to cook for another minute.
- Add in the chickpeas, tomatoes, water, salt and half of the lemon juice. Stir, cover and continue simmering for 10 minutes. Mix in the rest of the lemon juice, and remove from heat.
- Dinner’s ready! Garnish your Chana Masala with fresh chopped cilantro and serve with cumin cauliflower rice (see recipe), basmati rice or naan. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Community Tips & Tricks
Jossie says, “Mash the Chickpeas!”
Jossie’s Chana Masala
Jossie used water from the chickpeas along with 3 very ripe roma tomatoes. She then mashed some of the chickpeas for a creamier texture.
Looks great! Thanks, Jossie Perez!
Kim says, “Works for Everyone!”
Kim’s Chana Masala
By serving this dish with cauliflower rice, Kim met the dietary needs of her extended family while providing a flavorful, filling, & healthy meal.
Wonderful! Thanks, Kim Dobbins Bearden!
