Are you a fan of Channa Masala?I am. A huge one. Any restaurant you go to, you could ask for a vegan version and 99.99% of the time, it will be vegan. When one of my students ‘A’ mentioned that, her mum is of Punjabi heritage, I was like ‘I need Channa Masala recipe’. And her mum emailed me one. Her mum’s name is Geetali.K. She is such a sweetheart-I emailed her heaps of times and she got back to me instantly. If you happen to live in Sydney, she runs Indian Cooking classes at Macquarie Community College.
ย This is not a regular channa masala. This is super special. No garlic/tomatoes. Cooked with tamarind, it is one of those curries which will definitely stand out in the lot. This recipe has been passed over for generations and I am sure it will for many more. I have eaten a fair share of curries but nothing this unique.
ย You need:
- Dry Chickpeas-1/2 cup-soaked overnight with 3 cloves, 1 black cardamom, 2 dry chilies
- Large red onion-1-finely chopped
- Oil-1 tbsp+1.5 tsp
- To roast in a tsp of oil and grind in spice mill- (1 Tbsp coriander seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 5 red chili, black pepper-10 nos, fenugreek seeds-1/4 tsp)-This will be your spice mix
- Garam masala-1 tsp
- Ginger-1 inch piece
- Cumin seeds-1 tsp
- Tamarind-2 Tbsp tightly packed soaked in 1.5 cups hotย water.
- Chili powder (extra) – if needed
- Turmeric-1/2 tsp + 1/2 tsp
- Coriander leaves – a handful-finely chopped
- Juice from lemon juice and finely chopped onions- garnish
Method:
- In a pressure cooker/stock pot, boil chickpeas (with salt and turmeric-use 1/2 tsp here) until soft in 2 cups water. Drain and store this stock (you can use some in this curry [or] in any other soups)
- After they are done, take 1/4 cup chickpeas out-mash it well[or[chuck them in food processor-this is what adds a creamy texture to your curry. Add it back to your pressure cooker. Place this aside.
- Make the spice mix.
- Get your hands dirty and massage, squeeze the tamarind pulp, take the juices out and keep the pulp aside. You will need this for your second extract. Useย 1/2 cup of drained water and add it to the pulp. Massage again and extract more juices. Discard the pulp.
- To a sauce pan, add a tbsp of oil, once hot, add onions and fry until golden brown.
- Add the spice mix fry for a minute until this awesome aroma fills the house ๐
- Add tamarind extract, salt, rest of turmeric and let it boil for 12 mins on a medium heat.
- Do a taste check if you need more heat, throwย some chili powder in.
- Add it to the stockpot/pressure cooker, cover and let it simmer for 8ย mins on medium heat.
- If it is too thick, you can add the drained water and make it watery.
- Remove off heat and add coriander leaves
- Serve with finely chopped raw onions and lemon juice with any rice/flatbreads
For a long I was looking for a good chana recipe and here it is………thanks a lot……. ๐
You’re very welcome. THE best I’ve ever eaten-if you like tamarind based curries-this will be a winner <3
Saved this recipe. It looks delicious Charanya!
Thanks <3 Hope you are doing well and coping up XOXO
Great.. I have never soaked it with cloves, cardamom and chillies. Will try this time. ๐ I too don’t add tomatoes.
Sure ๐ I never knew we could do that.
Briliiant with samosas!
Thanks for the idea. I’m so making samosas next time ๐
Delicious!! I always add cardamom, cloves and chillies in ground form. Never added while soaking, but such a good tip. Next time i am gonna try channa by soaking the spices….
Thanks <3. They have an awesome flavor <3
This looks so yummy and Punjabi version of channa is one of the best I have heard, Thanks for the recipe dear will try it soon ๐
Sure. Let me know how you go ๐
I make chana masala very often, but one sounds quite different with the tamarind! Going to try it out soon. Thank you for sharing ๐
You are very welcome <3 Hope you like it
I love this! Need this recipe when I’m out of tomatoes…
You have it now <3
Wow wow wow am droooooooooling here… This can a masala looks super luscious – soaking in whole spices and tamarind puree is absolutely new to me.. can’t wait to give it a try… thanx dear for such awesome recipe… ๐ ๐
Thanks Chits <3
Wow! Sounds and looks way too tempting! Saving this to try soon
Thanks Radhi <3
This looks super good, but i’m not a huge fan of garam masala… do you think i can use curry instead? ๐
Hey ๐ I would just skip the step, if I were you. Because you add cloves, black cardamom etc while soaking channa, you really don’t need garam masala. Only for that extra kick, it’s added, Curry powder changes the taste. Do you like taste of cloves,cinnamon? You could just dry roast them, crush in a mortar/pestle and chuck it in.
sounds good! i’ll try, thanks ๐
Good luck <3
Loved loved loved the recipe…. And the clicks….OMG. Just superb.
Thanks Sonal <3
yummy! Beautiful pics. Charanya.. you’re getting so good at it!
Thanks Namz ๐
Love the photos – and the recipe!
Thanks <3
Yey!! so glad to see so many comments
๐ I know. It’s such a great recipe <3 You deserve all the comments ๐
Looks good! =)
Thanks <3