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Chana masala

Name: Chana masala
Total time: 561 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: South Asian
Ingredients: 120g dried chickpeas (or two drained tins); 1 onion; 1 tin tinned tomatoes; 1 thumb ginger; 3 garlic cloves; 2 tbsp oil; 2 tsp garam masala and cumin; 1 tsp amchur or lemon

Also known as चना मसाला · chole · chholay · chickpea masala curry

Chickpeas in a dark, tangy onion-and-tomato gravy, sour from dried mango powder or lemon. Warm-spiced rather than fiery.

South Asianlunchdinner

Typical serving

380 kcal

usually 300–480 kcal

Typical nutrition for one serving
Protein	15 g
Carbs	52 g
Fat	12 g

Reference figures for a dish as it is commonly cooked — never a measurement of your plate. The range is the honest part: two kitchens make this differently. In the app, a photograph replaces the guess.

Before you start

soak the chickpeas 8 hours ahead, or use a tin

36mhands on

8h 45munattended

9h 21mstart to finish

Ingredients

Serves 2 · dimmer marks are storecupboard

120gdried chickpeas — or two drained tins
1onion
1 tintinned tomatoes
1 thumbginger
3garlic cloves
2 tbspoil
2 tspgaram masala and cumin
1 tspamchur or lemon

Method

6 steps

soak · 8 hours walk away
Chickpeas under plenty of cold water, overnight.
boil · 45m walk away
Drain and cook in fresh water until tender but still whole.
chop · 5m
Dice the onion, mince the ginger and garlic.
fry · 12m
Onion in the oil to deep gold — not pale, this is where the sweetness comes from — then ginger, garlic and the dry spices for a minute.
simmer · 18m
Tomatoes in, cooked down until the oil separates back out, then the chickpeas with a ladle of their water.
finish · 1m
Amchur or lemon at the end. It should be dark and tangy rather than hot.

Worth knowing

The near-black colour of a proper chana masala comes from dried pomegranate seeds or tea brewed into the gravy — not from long browning.

Chickpeas are unusually high in fibre; one plateful carries a large part of a day's.

More from the South Asian kitchen

Closest in calories

Chicken tikka plate

380 kcal · 40g protein

Dal tadka

380 kcal · 14g protein

Vada pav

380 kcal · 8g protein

Onion pakoras

380 kcal · 7g protein

Browse macros for every South Asian dish Foodakl can log: South Indian · North Indian · Bengali · Pakistani · Sri Lankan · Nepali & Tibetan

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