Since I made it again recently, and posting the link to the above soup has reminded me of this thread, I thought I‘d share the recipe I have put together for a chana masala.
I’ve researched all sorts of different ways people suggest making it, from “restaurant style” with a whole bunch of bonus effort involving toasting and grinding whole spices through to ultra-quick “cheat” recipes for doing at home. The former usually are too involved for me to ever be bothered with making for myself, and the latter usually cut too many corners and end up sacrificing the end result.
I've picked bits and pieces from different sources, performed a little bit of amateur recipe development on my own, and ended up with something that I think generates a good end result but is still easy enough to qualify for "weeknight home cooking".
I make this using coconut oil, but I've listed butter or ghee as options as they are both popular for cooks that are vegetarian but not vegan.
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Chana Masala ============
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 40-60 minutes
Servings: 4-5
Ingredients
Dry spices:
1 tablespoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon chilli powder (optional)
Everything else:
1 medium onion, diced
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
2 inches ginger, grated or minced
400ml can tomato
2 cans chickpeas, drained
1 small can diced chilli or 1-2 green chillis, chopped
1 tablespoon coconut oil or butter or ghee
1 teaspoon amchur powder
Salt
Pepper
Water
Directions
Dice the onion, mince the garlic, grate or mince the ginger.
Bring large sautee pan or dutch oven to medium-high heat, add coconut oil. Once oil is shimmering, add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook for 6-8 minutes until it starts turning soft and translucent. Properly cooking down the onions is a key to a decent chana masala, maybe this step will take 10 minutes depending on your onion.
Add the garlic and ginger, cook for another 3-4 minutes while constantly stirring. Take care not to burn the garlic.
Add the dry spices except for the amchur and bloom for 30-60 seconds. Once fragrant, add the tomato and a pinch of salt to taste and lower to medium heat. Simmer until the oil starts separating from the tomato.
Add the chickpeas, chillis, and enough water to cover everything. Simmer until the sauce has reduced down to desired consistency. Add amchur and mix through. Optionally, add some frozen green beans, edamame, or maybe even frozen peas for some extra colour and to mix up the flavours a bit if you like (and don't care about it being "traditional").
Serve with basmati rice, roti or naan, and maybe some papadums. Can be topped with freshly chopped coriander or parsley.
Notes
If you don't have amchur, some lemon or lime juice can suffice at the end. The idea is that it adds some tang and acidity/sourness to balance everything out. Don't skip this!
If everything is too sharp at the end, some sugar can be added also to help balance everything (but this usually is not needed)
The most variable part of this is simmering until the oil separates from the tomato mixture. You'll know when it is happening as you will see small pools of oil starting to form on the top, and if you take the pan off the heat and run your spoon or spatula through it to leave a trail, the oil will start running before the rest of the sauce. This might take 10 minutes or it might take over 25 minutes, depending on your tomatoes, your pan, and/or your stove top.