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Chickpea curry chole recipe

Punjabi Chana Masala Recipe | Indian Chickpea Curry | Healthy Chole Curry Masala

Made in spicy onion tomato gravy and flavored with Indian spices, this Punjabi Chana Masala Recipe is heavenly and perfect for a weeknight healthy meal! This traditional Indian Chana Masala made with chickpea is one of the popular companion of street food- Chole Bhature.
5 from 2 votes
Prep Time 5 hours
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 5 hours 40 minutes
Course Indian Curries, Indian main course, traditional indian recipes
Cuisine Indian, indian traditional
Servings 8 bowl
Calories 290 kcal

Equipment

  • 1 Large Bowl soaking Chole
  • 1 Pressure Cooker boiling Chole
  • 1 wok/ kadai Preparing onion & tomato gravy

Ingredients
  

  • 3 cups Dry Chickpea can use canned chickpeas
  • 2 medium onion
  • 4 medium tomato
  • 2-3 clove garlic
  • 1 tablespoon grated ginger
  • 2 tablespoon desi ghee
  • 1 small bayleaf
  • 1-2 piece whole clove
  • 1-2 piece whole black pepper
  • 1 piece cardamom
  • 1 tablespoon red chilly powder can reduce the heat.
  • 1.5 tablespoon Chole Masala GM brand
  • 1-2 piece green chili
  • 6-7 cups water for boiling chickpeas, can adjust
  • salt as per taste I use 2 teaspoon

Instructions
 

  • The prep time begins as early as a night before you wish to cook chickpea curry. Soaking Chickpeas is an important step and I would recommend not skipping it.
    But if for some reason you couldn't soak them, you may soak them in hot water for 10 min or cook them longer than usual. (15 min more). In a large pressure cooker, add soaked chickpeas (drain the water in which they were soaked) along with salt and grated ginger.
    Let it boil for 2 whistles on full and then simmer the flame and cook for about 15 min. The boiled chickpeas would be soft and their outer skin would come off. You may mash them easily with fingers. If you don't like mushy chickpeas, you may pressure cook for 10 min only.
    A few people add tea leaves wrapped in a muslin cloth for the perfect brown color of chickpeas. I have never used them and I use a good masala brand which adds the much needed brown shade to this curry.
  • In a sauce pan or heavy bottomed kadai/wok, prepare the onion-tomato gravy. Add ghee to the wok. Once hot, add Heeng (Asafoetida), Cumin Seeds, Bayleaf, Cardamom, Black pepper, Clove, onion, and garlic.
    Onions take about 2 min to become pink and transparent. You may add the chopped tomatoes. Tomato gravy can also be used.
  • Once tomatoes are cooked, you may add the spices- red chilly powder, chole masala and green chilly. I have not added Garam masala and Amchur as the chole masala had these already.
    Cook tomatoes with spices for about 2 min on slow flame. Add chickpeas and let them simmer on slow flame for about 5-10 min to blend the spices and flavor. You may boil more depending upon how thick gravy you wish to have.
    Once they cool off for few hrs, they tend to become thicker.
    I generally pressure cook the chickpeas after adding masala for about 5 min. This time I couldn't as I was in a hurry.
  • The Chole Masala is ready! Top it with coriander leaves and sliced ginger and serve it with rice, paratha or poori.

Notes

  • Boiling Chickpea with salt helps cook them faster.
  • If you are making this dish in summers, I suggest soaking them in hot water for 2-3 hrs rather than to soak overnight. This helps increasing perish-ability time.
  • If you are using the canned chickpeas, make sure to drain the water and remove the aquafaba layer under tap water.
  • To have a blended flavor in the curry, make sure to pressure cook the chole for 5 min after adding the onion-tomato gravy.
  • If you are using store-bought Chole Masala, make sure to read the instructions. I use only a small quantity of it. They usually are added with extra salt and I avoid using whole packet in one recipe. Instead I use 1-2 tablespoon depending upon the quantity of chole.
  • Pls note that the serving size may change if you serve chole curry with rice. This estimated serving is in bowls and depends on the consistency of gravy as well.
Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1 bowl
Servings: 8
Amount per serving  
Calories 290
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 7.3g 9%
Saturated Fat 2.4g 12%
Cholesterol 9mg 3%
Sodium 535mg 23%
Total Carbohydrate 44.9g 16%
Dietary Fiber 12.7g 45%
Total Sugars 9.1g  
Protein 13.5g  
Vitamin D 0mcg 0%
Calcium 82mg 6%
Iron 4mg 25%
Potassium 698mg 15%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calorie a day is used for general nutrition advice.
Keyword Chana Masala, Chickpea in Indian Spicy gravy, Chole masala, Chole recipe, Healthy Homemade chole, Indian chickpea curry