Simple and fast tomato-based recipe featuring garbanzo beans and fragrant Indian spices served over basmati rice.
Do you enjoy eating Indian cuisine?
We love it! And Chana Masala is hands-down my husband’s favorite Indian dish. He orders it every single time we go out for Indian food. I’m a little more adventurous and try to order different things, though my favorite is Dosa Masala, a thin crispy crepe filled with a potato pea combination.
But dosa masala may be a bit more complicated or intimidating than this quick and easy Chana Masala recipe. In fact, this recipe is so simple and flavorful, it stays at the top of our weekly menu.
What’s interesting is we never had chana masala before transitioning to a plant-based lifestyle. Come to think of it, I rarely ate Indian food at all. It just didn’t come up in our rotation. Now that we’ve been introduced to all of the exotic flavors, spices, aromas, and options, we eat some sort of Indian food at least once or twice a week. Some of our favorites include Baingan Bharta, Chickpea Korma, and Butter Chick’n.
We’ve made a lot of different versions over the past few years – some with tomato puree, some with fresh tomatoes blended in the vitamix, and some with diced tomatoes. While they all satisfy that amazing chana masala itch, this version is probably our favorite because it is fairly straight-forward and boasts a lot of flavor in every bite. We also like it because it has just a little more tomato sauce than some of the drier recipes. For all these reasons, this Chana Masala is our go-to recipe.
If you do like your chana masala drier, feel free to reduce the broth and tomatoes by up to one half. But we like having a wetter sauce for our rice. One of things I really like about this recipe is how much flavor is packed into every bite. You don’t need salt or oil to taste the flavors of India. I hope you enjoy this chana masala recipe as much as we do.
Chana Masala translated means “mix-spiced small chickpeas.” Thus, the key to chana masala is using quality chickpeas and fresh spices and herbs. Soak your chickpeas in filtered water for 12 hours. I typically just leave them overnight. When you’re ready to cook your chickpeas, rinse them well, and place in an Instant Pot or pressure cooker for 9 minutes. Allow the pressure cooker to release pressure naturally. Once released, pour the chickpeas into a colander and rinse gently in cool water.
Ingredients
- 2 cups basmati rice
- 2½ cups water (if using Instant Pot)
- 2 cups dried garbanzo beans, soaked overnight, cooked, drained (4½ cups cooked or 3 cans)
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic (3-4 cloves)
- 14 oz can diced or crushed tomatoes* (or 2 cups diced fresh tomatoes – see note below)*
- 2-3 cups vegetable broth
- 1-2 Tbsp chana masala seasoning**
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp Kashmiri chili powder
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 1-2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1-2 Tbsp vegan butter (optional)
- ½ cup fresh cilantro
- Salt to taste (optional)
Instructions
- Prepare the Beans.  Soak the garbanzo beans (chickpeas) in water overnight. Cook on high pressure in Instant Pot or pressure cooker for 11 minutes.  Allow pressure to release naturally.  Drain and set aside.
- Prepare the Rice. Combine the basmati rice and water in the Instant Pot and cook on High Pressure for 4 minutes for white rice or 20 minutes for brown rice (or per package directions.)
- Prepare the Chana Masala.  Sauté the onion and garlic in a large skillet over medium-low heat until translucent.  I do not use oil.  Keep the heat a little lower and add vegetable broth or water to keep the onion and garlic from sticking to the pan.
- Stir in the tomatoes, spices, and 2 cups of broth. Add more broth as needed to keep the sauce wet. Cook on medium-low heat for about 10 minutes.
- Â Remove a portion (about 1 cup) of the garbanzo beans and coarsely mash them, then return to the skillet and stir well to combine.
- Add in lemon juice and half of the chopped cilantro. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired, adding in more chana masala, spices, lemon juice, salt, or cilantro.
- Serve over warm basmati rice with fresh cilantro sprinkled on top.Â
Notes
If you don’t want to soak and cook the garbanzo beans, just use 3 cans and rinse well.
* We prefer a more saucy Chana Masala. You can combine diced tomatoes with a small can of tomato sauce – or you can use crushed tomatoes. Both result in very similar sauces. Obviously the diced tomatoes will contain a bit more texture that the crushed tomatoes.
** I purchase an authentic chana masala seasoning blend on Amazon. If you can find one in your local grocery store, that’s even better. An authentic chana masala spice blend contains a lot of different ingredients, including Coriander, Dehydrated Unripe Mango, Salt White, Chillie Red, Cumin, Musk Melon, Pomegranate seeds, Dried Ginger, Salt Black, Black Pepper, Fenugreek leaves, Cinnamon, Mint Leaves, Cardamom Amomum, Cloves, Nutmeg, Cardamom Green. A good blend adds a lot of warmth and depth to the dish.
Chana Masala
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker (to cook soaked chickpeas and rice)
- stove
Ingredients
- 2 cups basmati rice
- 2½ cups water if using Instant Pot
- 2 cups dried garbanzo beans soaked overnight, cooked, drained (4½ cups cooked or 3 cans)
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic 3-4 cloves
- 14 oz can diced or crushed tomatoes or 2 cups diced fresh tomatoes
- 2-3 cups vegetable broth
- 1-2 Tbsp chana masala seasoning*
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp Kashmiri chili powder**
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 1-2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1-2 Tbsp vegan butter optional
- ½ cup fresh cilantro
- Salt to taste optional
Instructions
- Prepare the Beans. Soak the garbanzo beans (chickpeas) in water overnight. Cook on high pressure in Instant Pot or pressure cooker for 11 minutes. Allow pressure to release naturally. Drain and set aside. (Alternatively, use 3 cans, rinsed and drained.
- Prepare the Rice. Combine the basmati rice and water in the Instant Pot and cook on High Pressure for 4 minutes for white rice or 20 minutes for brown rice (or per package directions.)
- Make the Chana Masala. Sauté the onion and garlic in a large skillet over medium-low heat until translucent. I do not use oil. Keep the heat a little lower and add vegetable broth or water to keep the onion and garlic from sticking to the pan.
- Stir in the tomatoes, spices, and 2 cups of broth. Add more broth as needed to keep the sauce wet. Cook on medium-low heat for about 10 minutes.
- Remove a portion (about 1 cup) of the garbanzo beans and coarsely mash them, then return to the skillet and stir well to combine.
- Add in lemon juice and half of the chopped cilantro. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired, adding in more chana masala, spices, lemon juice, salt, or cilantro.
- Serve over warm basmati rice with fresh cilantro sprinkled on top.
Notes
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