Punjabi Chana Masala
Chana Masala, a popular and flavorful Indian dish, is a vegetarian delight that has captured the hearts and palates of food enthusiasts worldwide. This aromatic dish features chickpeas simmered in a rich blend of spices, including cumin, coriander, Kashmiri red chile, garam masala, and amchoor powder. The result is a hearty and protein-packed curry that tantalizes the taste buds with its robust flavors.
This recipe comes from our friend Devanshi Shah of This is Dee's Kitchen.
Yield: 4 servings
Preparation Instructions:
Steep the tea bags in 1 cup hot water for 5 mins. Remove the tea bags and discard. Set the tea aside.
In a blender, combine fresh ginger, garlic, red onion, and tomatoes. Blend until you have a smooth mixture.
In a nonstick pan, heat the olive oil or ghee over medium heat. Add the whole spices - bay leaf, cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves. Sauté for 1-2 minutes.
Add the onion-tomato mixture, stir, and cook for 7-8 minutes.
Add the ground spices - ground cumin, ground coriander, garam masala, Kashmiri red chili powder, and amchoor powder. Mix everything well and cook for 3-4 minutes.
Add the chickpeas and black tea. Mix, then add additional 1-2 cups of water. Mix and bring everything to a boil.
Lower the heat, add the jalapeño slices, cover and let it simmer for 10 minutes.
Mash some of the chickpeas, then mix one more time. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot with rice or naan!
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More About This Recipe
The onion-tomato mixture is a very common base for several Indian curries. You can make this ahead of time and freeze for future use! If using dry chickpeas, soak 2 cups of dry chickpeas overnight, then pressure cook with 3 cups of water and the tea bags. This will give it an even darker color and earthier flavor. In the final step, I recommend mashing some of the chickpeas to give it a rugged look and texture, but that might not be necessary if using dry chickpeas as pressure cooking them will naturally break apart some of the chickpeas.
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