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Chana masala (Amritsari style)
chana masala / chole
Chickpeas simmered in a sauce of browned onion, ginger, garlic, ground spices and blended tomato cooked until the oil separates, soured with dried pomegranate powder and finished with butter, ginger and raw red onion. Anjum Anand's Amritsar version from her book I Love India.
- Servings
- 4
- Preparation
- 5 min
- Cooking
- 30 min
- Total
- 35 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
Equipment
- Large saucepan
- Blender
- Small frying pan and a spice grinder or mortar
Ingredients
To finish
Method
Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the onion and a little salt and cook until it browns at the edges. Meanwhile blend the tomatoes with a little water until smooth.
Add the ginger and garlic and sauté for about a minute, until just colouring. Add the turmeric, ground cumin and coriander, chilli powder and garam masala and cook for 20–30 seconds, then pour in the tomatoes.
Why Ground spices burn in seconds in hot oil; the tomato stops them in time.
Cook over a medium heat, stirring often, until the oil separates from the sauce, about 15 minutes.
Why Oil pooling at the edges is the sign that the water has cooked out and the masala is done.
Timer · 15 min15:00Meanwhile toast the cumin seeds in a small dry pan, stirring, until darker and fragrant, about 40 seconds. Grind to a fine powder and add to the pot.
Add the chickpeas and a little more salt and stir well. Add boiling water just to the top of the chickpeas, bring to a simmer and cook for a few minutes.
Timer · 5 min5:00Taste and add the pomegranate powder or tamarind: less if your tomatoes were sour, more if they were sweet. Stir in the chopped coriander and adjust the seasoning.
Serve with a small knob of butter, a few strips of ginger and a scattering of red onion, 'for the real Punjabi experience'.
To drink & serve with
- Naan
Editorial suggestion: with a flatbread or rice. In Amritsar it is eaten with stuffed breads, according to the source.
Substitutions
- Dried pomegranate powder → Tamarind paste, as the source allows, or a squeeze of lemon.
- Butter (vegan) → Leave it out or finish with a spoon of oil.
- Canned chickpeas → Dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and boiled until tender.
Common mistakes
- Adding the chickpeas before the oil separates: the sauce tastes raw and watery.
- Burning the ground spices: they turn bitter in seconds.
Storage & reheating
Refrigerate within 2 hours and eat within 2 days; reheat until steaming hot. It thickens as it stands: add a splash of water.
Safety
Contains milk (butter, optional).
Allergens
Milk
Check labels: stock, bacon and sauces can contain further allergens.
Dietary
vegetarian
The chickpeas of Amritsar
Chickpea curries are made all over India, but Anjum Anand writes that this famous version comes from Amritsar, the Punjabi city best known for the Golden Temple and for its food. Even the vegetables there, she reports, are claimed to taste better because of the local water. Her recipe, from the book I Love India, is finished the Amritsari way: with a knob of white butter, slivers of ginger and raw red onion.
Cook the masala until the oil shows
The flavour is built in stages: onion browned at the edges, ginger and garlic just coloured, ground spices for half a minute, then blended tomato cooked for about a quarter of an hour until the oil separates. Toasted, freshly ground cumin seeds and a sour finish of dried pomegranate powder (anardana) give the Amritsari character. The chickpeas themselves need only a few minutes.
