Simply Chana Masala
Posted On April 27, 2020
Chana Masala is a basic recipe for chick peas. This is the most popular and easy recipe for Indian food. If you are new to starting to cook Indian dishes, this is a good place to start. This uses a ready made Chana Masala Spice Mix which gives you so much flavor with no effort.
If you do meal prep on weekends, be sure to include mincing garlic and ginger and then this will take you no time at all!
Simply Chana Masala
Ingredients
- 1 15 oz can garbanzo beans/chickpeas washed and drained or 1 cup dry chickpeas soaked overnight and pressure cooked for 20-25 minutes
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 Small onion, chopped plus extra for garnish
- 1/2 Red or green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 inch Fresh ginger chopped
- 4 Cloves of garlic peeled and chopped
- 1 tsp Lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp Ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp Ground turmeric powder
- 1/8 tsp Asafetida (hing) optional
- 1 tsp Chana Masala spice blend You can use garam masala
- 3 medium Tomatoes, chopped small Or 15 oz can chopped tomatoes
- 1/2 tsp Salt or to taste
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
- Fresh squeezed lemon for garnish
Instructions
- Heal oil in pan over medium heat. Add onion and bell pepper and cook until lightly brown. Add in the ginger garlic and cook for a minute. Add in the turmeric, cumin, asofetida, and chana masala blend, mix well. Cook briefly to bring out the oils in the spices.
- Add in the tomatoes and cook on medium low, partially covered with occasional stirring until tomatoes are tender and soft. (10-15 minutes) Mash the tomatoes lightly, then add the chickpeas, black pepper and salt and 1.5 cups water. Simmer 15 minutes. or until chickpeas are softened. If it appears dry, add more water. At this point, if you like, you can lightly mash some of the chickpeas to make a thicker, creamier stew. This is a personal preference. I, personally, like them mashed up a bit.
- Adjust seasonings. Add more chana masala blend, salt or black pepper. Mix well. Let sit for a few minutes covered to develop the flavors.
- Serve hot topped with more chopped onions, lemon wedges, cilantro on top. Serve with Naan, or Rice, or quinoa. You can be really adventurous and have it over cauliflower rice!