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Easy Chana Masala

in Recipes

When I set out to create this dish, my goal was to come up with an authentic version of chana masala that I could make at home. It’s my favorite Indian dish, and I’ve wanted to figure out how to replicate it forever.

Did I do that with this dish? No, not exactly.

Does that mean you should stop reading right now? No, absolutely not.

Because while I haven’t quite succeeded in convincing myself that this version of the Indian classic tastes entirely authentic, it is my FAVORITE thing that I have made in quite a while. Ab-so-lute-ly DELICIOUS. (You know, if I do say so myself.)

So, that being said, the obvious question is how, exactly, we get this cooking? WELL, something I discovered through my attempts to create this dish is that a combination of roasted red pepper sauce and tomato sauce makes a huge difference. I was trying to figure this recipe out with plain tomato sauce for a while, and it just wasn’t doing it for me. It wasn’t until I finally thought to add the red pepper sauce that I started getting somewhere.

Then, in addition to the base of the sauce, I obviously had to figure out the combination of herbs and spices to be added. Again, this took a while – in every past iteration of this dish, no matter what combination of things I tried, I felt like something was missing. Luckily, that was about the time I started thinking about saffron. (You know, as one does.) I had never cooked with it before, mainly because it’s just a touch on the expensive side, but I’m really glad I decided to give it a try for this recipe – it was definitely the something missing.

The good news is, even though saffron is a touch pricey (you can get about an ounce for around $9 on Amazon), that little bit will last you quite a long time because you only have to use a pinch.

The other somewhat unusual ingredient I use in this recipe is seeds from cardamom pods. I only very recently discovered cardamom pods (something that I probably shouldn’t be admitting as someone who’s been cooking for quite a while now, but I’m trusting there will be no judgment), and if you have never used them before, let me just tell you – they are fabulous.

The flavor they add is hard to adequately describe, but it’s somewhere between sweet and smoky. It adds a lot to whatever you’re making, let’s just put it that way. Now, some of you may have noticed that the instructions call for scraping the seeds out of the cardamom pods, and you may be thinking ‘hmm, that sounds like kind of a lot of work.’ It’s not. Seriously. Takes three seconds. All you do is (carefully) crush the pods with the flat edge of a knife, which will crack them open, and from there you can just scrape out the little seeds with your fingers. Easy:)

Despite the fact that there are about a billion flavors going on in this dish, it’s actually pretty simple to make. So if you’re ready to discover your new favorite healthy comfort food (ha, two birds with one stone!), just scroll on down a bit and get cooking!

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Easy Chana Masala

Ingredients

For the Red Pepper Sauce

  • 1 jar roasted red peppers (drained and rinsed)
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup basil leaves

For the Chana Masala

  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1 large onion
  • 1 hot pepper (you can choose the kind depending on your spice tolerance)
  • 2 15 oz cans chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
  • 1 15 oz can tomato sauce
  • 1/2 tbsp garam masala
  • 1 tsp curry powder
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp minced ginger (fresh)
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • Shake of cayenne
  • 8 pods cardamom
  • Pinch of saffron
  • Salt and pepper (to taste)

Instructions

For the Red Pepper Sauce

  1. Mince the garlic and chop the peppers; set both aside.

  2. Melt the butter over medium heat. Add the cream, the peppers and the garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the ingredients are blended together and the sauce is fragrant; about 5 minutes.

  3. Once the sauce ingredients are cooked together, remove from heat and transfer (carefully) to a blender. Add the basil leaves and blend until everything is well combined. Set aside.

For the Chana Masala

  1. Dice the onion. Then, melt the butter over medium high heat. Add the diced onion and cook until the onion is translucent, about 3 minutes.

  2. While the onion is cooking, slice the top off the chili (or whatever spicy pepper you're using.) Once the onion is translucent, add the whole chili (with the top removed), the garam masala, curry powder, turmeric, ginger, cayenne and sugar, along with about a teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.

  3. Stir together and allow the spices to cook with the onion for about a minute.

  4. Add the chickpeas and cook, stirring frequently, until the chickpeas begin to turn golden brown, 5-10 minutes. While that's happening, scrape out and add the seeds from the cardamom pods.

  5. Once the chickpeas are a nice golden brown, add the can of tomato sauce and the red pepper sauce you made earlier. Stir to combine.

  6. Add the saffron and a bit more salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. 

  7. Serve over a bed of rice and top with additional torn basil.

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