Chole Masala Recipe (Chickpea Masala)

Chana or chole (chickpeas) are a type of legume and it is high in fibre and protein including several key vitamins and minerals. Chole masala or chana masala or chickpea masala is a recipe from the Indian subcontinent which is made with boiled chickpeas, tomato and onion gravy and spices. Also, this chana masala recipe is gluten-free, diabetic-friendly and vegan.

You can have this chole masala recipe with rice, chapati, poori, naan, kulcha or any of your favourite bread. You won’t believe that I used to have it with bread toast and butter and it was tasting so good. But if you want to have it with rice or pulao, make sure to keep sufficient when cooking.

This is a 2 step recipe where we?ll start first with cooking chickpeas and then preparing gravy. Afterwards, cooked chickpeas are added to the gravy to enhance its flavour. If you can find pre-cooked chickpeas in water or salted water, that?ll be fine. But I soak and then pressure cook it; the way we use to cook in India.

Pressure Cook Chickpeas for Chole Masala

Chickpeas are a legume so we need to soak it overnight or at least do 6 hours before boiling. Remember to rinse it before soaking. Soaking chickpeas for preparing chickpea masala is important because it cooks faster.

For this recipe, you need to put 1 cup of chickpeas in a pressure cooker along with 1 bay leaf, 3-4 cloves, 1 inch of cinnamon stick, a pinch of salt and a teabag. Yes, you heard it right, a tea bag is going to give it a nice texture and flavour. If you have an Indian masala tea bag, you can use it but skip adding above spices because Indian masala teabags contain mentioned spices. Close the lid and pressure cook till 6-7 whistles. After this, switch off the stove and let the pressure cooker release pressure automatically. Open the lid and mash a chickpea between thumb and index finger. If it mashes easily, it’s done. Remove teabag from the water and you may also remove whole spices because we are going to use the same water in the curry. Keep chickpeas with salted water aside.

And if you have an instant pot, you can check Amy + Jacky on how to cook chickpeas in an instant pot.

Preparing Gravy

Ingredients

You need the following ingredients for making gravy of vegan chana / chole masala:

• Oil – 2 tbsp
• Tej Patta (Bay Leaf) – 1 nos
• Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
• Onions – 1 cup, chopped (I used red ones, you may use anyone you want)
• Ginger garlic paste – 1 tbsp + Green chilli – 1 nos, chopped
• Tomatoes – 2 large, chopped
• Salt – as per taste

• Chole Masala Spice Mix – Chana Masala – 1 tbsp + Coriander powder – 1 tbsp + Cumin powder – 1 tsp + Anardana powder – 1/2 tsp

• Water – 2 tbsp (for cooking spices) + 1 1/2 cup for gravy (you can adjust this as per the requirement of gravy and it’s consistency)
• Kasuri Methi (dry fenugreek leaves) – 2 tbsp, crushed by hands

Method for making Chole Masala recipe

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add bay leaf and cumin seeds.
2. Once cumin seeds start crackling, add chopped onions. Cook till it becomes translucent.
3. Add ginger-garlic paste and green chilli. Let it cook for 1 minute.
4. Now, add chopped tomatoes, salt, spice mix and 2 tbsp water. Mix everything well and cook it till gravy start releasing oil. To make it faster, close the lid and let the gravy simmer for 5 minutes on low flame.
5. Add pre-cooked chickpeas, close the lid and cook it on a medium flame for 10 minutes.
6. After 10 minutes, open the lid and add dried fenugreek leaves. Mix well.
7. Again close the lid and cook for further 5 minutes.
8. Chana masala (chickpea masala) is ready to serve. Remember that this is a vegan chana masala recipe.

Recommended recipe:

• Aloo masala
• Bhindi masala
• Egg curry
• Dosa batter recipe
• Aloo dum