Chana Masala is an easy dinner full of spices in one pot. This vegetarian Indian recipe is a great filling meal for the whole family!
This vegetarian Indian Recipe is a tasty dish that takes less than hour from start to finish, making it perfect for a satisfying weeknight dinner. Try out Pav Bhaji or Saag Paneer for more delicious vegetarian options.
Sabrina’s Chana Masala Recipe
Making Indian food at home can be a little intimidating, especially from the first glance of the ingredient list. Don’t let the generous amount of spices in Chickpea Curry discourage you, it is actually super easy (and budget friendly) to make! Most, if not all, the spices you need to make this recipe are ones you keep on hand and the rest of the ingredients are common pantry items.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
Chickpea Mixture:
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 yellow onion , chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger , finely minced
- 2 green chilis , finely minced
- 4 cloves garlic , minced
- 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 30 ounces canned chickpeas , drained and rinsed
- 14.5 ounces diced tomatoes , not drained
- 1/2 cup cilantro , chopped
Garam Masala:
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 2 teaspoons ground cardamom
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Instructions
Garam Masala:
- Make your garam masala seasoning in a small bowl and stir cumin, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, black pepper, cloves and nutmeg well.
Garbanzo Mixture:
- Add 2 tablespoons butter and onion to a large dutch oven on medium heat and cook for 5-6 minutes until the onions are translucent, stirring occasionally.
- Add in remaining 2 tablespoons butter, ginger, chilis, garlic, turmeric and salt.
- Add garam masala to your pan and stir well until coated.
- Stir well and cook for 1 minute.
- Add in the vegetable broth, garbanzo beans and tomatoes, stir well and bring to a simmer.
- Lower heat to medium low and cook for 30 minutes.
- Stir in cilantro and serve with flatbread or naan or dosa.
Nutrition
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Table of contents
Chef’s Note
The key to getting the most flavor in an Indian curry is to toast the spices in fat. This Indian Chickpea recipe uses butter, but if you have some on hand, use the more traditional ghee, or clarified butter. For a vegan Chickpea Curry, use coconut oil or a non-dairy butter substitute.
About this Recipe
Indian Chickpea Curry is a vegetarian dish full of classic Indian spices that is mild enough for everyone to enjoy! There is a slight heat from the cayenne pepper, but you can always leave it out. Chickpea Curry is a great recipe to layer flavors, adding more Indian spices, veggies, or even meat depending on your taste. Chana means chickpea, Curry is a gravy or sauce, and most Curries are made with a Masala spice blend. So Chana Masala is just Chickpeas in Gravy with Spices.
What to Pair With
This curry is delicious on it’s own served over Instant Pot White Rice or Perfect Brown Rice. You can also serve this Chickpea Curry as a side dish to your favorite Indian dishes like Lamb Curry. No curry is complete without a drizzle of Indian Raita and a side Garlic Naan for dipping!
How to Store
- Serve: You can keep chickpea curry at room temperature for up to 2 hours before it needs to be cooled and stored in the refrigerator or freezer.
- Store: Place cooled chickpea curry in an airtight container and refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat on the stovetop, adding broth if the sauce is too thick.
- Freeze: Cool the recipe and store in a sealed container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating on the stove top.
Slow Cooker Method
- Sauté the onions with butter in a large skillet for 5 minutes.
- Stir in all the spices and garlic, cooking until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Transfer the spice onion mixture to the slow cooker.
- Deglaze the skillet with ½ cup broth to get all the remaining spices and pour into slow cooker.
- Add all the remaining ingredients to slow cooker, except cilantro, and stir.
- Cook, covered, on low for 4-5 hours or 2-3 hours on high.
- Stir in cilantro and serve over rice.
Variations
- Spices: Other spices you can use are garam masala, curry powder, cardamom, nutmeg, mace, mustard seeds, or saffron. For heat, add dried or fresh chilis or red pepper flakes. There is a slight heat from the cayenne pepper, but you can always leave it out. Curry pastes like red curry or green curry paste add their own flavors and heat too.
- Coconut Milk: Make a creamy Coconut Chickpea Curry by adding a ½ cup full fat coconut milk during the last 5-10 minutes of cooking. You could also add yogurt, just make sure to temper it or leave at room temperature before adding so it doesn’t curdle.
- Spinach: Make this Chana Saag Masala by adding in a couple cups of fresh baby spinach, Saag, halfway through cooking.
- Potatoes: For Chana Aloo Masala, aka Chickpea and Potato Curry, add 2 cups diced potatoes in the beginning and cook until the potatoes are tender. You can also use diced sweet potatoes or cauliflower (Gobi).
- Lentils: Boil ½ cup dry lentils in 1 cup water, then simmer for 10-15 minutes until tender. Add lentils with the chickpeas to make a heartier vegetarian Chickpea Curry.
- Meat: Brown lamb, chicken, or beef, cut into 1 inch cubes, in the pot and remove before sautéing onions and spices. Add the meat back to the dutch oven and add about 15-20 minutes to the overall cooking time.
Related Recipes
More Delicious Vegetarian Indian Dishes
Photos used in previous versions of the post:
Wow! Tastes like its from an Indian restaurant and even better home made from someone from India. Hands down one of the best I’ve tried to make. The flavor is impeccable!
Yes! So happy that it won you over. Thanks for enjoying, Elizabeth, and thank you for the 5 stars!
This was delicious!!! LOVE Indian food, but have never tried this dish. Based on a review I added carrots and spinach (love both of those ingredients) and will make this many more time in the future, no doubt!!!
So glad the recipe turned out great for you Greg and appreciate the five star review.
how much storebought garam masala to use?
That’s a great question. I haven’t tested this recipe using store bought garam masala.
I did 2.5 tbsp
I’ve made this 3x now using store bought garam masala to save time, comes out great every time 🙂
Good to know and thanks for the five star review!
I just made this on my lunch hour & sautéed carrots with the onions then added spinach, and this is so delicious. I’m going to add potatoes & maybe cauliflower next time..I do have store bought garam masala for time saving purposes..and added maybe 2-3 teaspoons to taste..i mean this is restaurant quality no doubt.. Do you have a good Saag recipe?
We LOVE Indian food. I have a Chicken Saag https://dinnerthendessert.com/chicken-saag/ and a Saag Paneer https://dinnerthendessert.com/saag-paneer/. recipe you might enjoy. If you have time, click on my Recipe Index and browse “Indian food”!! There are a lot of options for your perusal!!
Glad you enjoyed the Chana masala and thank you for the 5 star review!
I tried this recipe and didn’t know how much of the Masala seasoning to use. I opted to use all of it. LOL! Needless to say it was way to much. Can you please be more specific?
Hi Jackie,
Are you saying that the Garam Masala recipe netted too much seasoning? I wrote the Garam Masala recipe to create 6 servings of Chana Masala so I do use all the seasoning in the recipe. I certainly can retest the recipe.
I agree on the amount of spices. Too powerful, but maybe I’m not used to it.
? cook it today and it came out very nice and tasty.
I cooked my chickpeas from scratch, then I followed all the instructions in the recipe. I used fresh tomatoes. Everyone loved it so I’ll sure cook this again.
Made this last night. I added potatoes and spinach and an extra cup of chickpeas as we had unexpected friends turn up. Everyone enjoyed it, even the teenagers!
Sabrina,
Would you have a cabbage Bhaji recipe?
Sadly I do not have that on hand, maybe one day!
Absolutely delicious! I needed a beautiful and tasty vegan dish for a dinner party, and this was perfect. I followed the suggestions for adding coconut milk and spinach, and it turned out perfectly. Can’t wait to try more recipes from your site!
Yes, thank you. So glad you enjoyed it!
Best aloo gobi recipe I’ve made up! Thank you!,
Only addition was a tsp of mustard seed..
thanks again Sabrina
Helen t
You’re welcome, Helen. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
If I have a jar of garam Masala how much would I use?
How large of a jar?
I can’t eat chickpeas, unfortunately… 🙁 But my husband absolutely adores this dish! He could easily eat this flavorful dish for every single non-breakfast meal! Especially if I crank up the heat… Ha! He’d like me to thank you for this delicious addition to our meal rotation! 🙂
Thanks so much for coming back to let me know, Betsy.
I made this and everyone liked it, including my kids! Great flavours and I served it over a half and half rice-cauliflower rice combo for more fibre. Thanks for a great recipe!
You’re welcome Megan, and thanks so much for the 5 star review!
I love all these spices. Totally making this for meatless Monday!
Enjoy!
Healthy, delicious and flavorful!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Melissa.