Easy Chana Masala
I have revised this recipe, adding in an option for cooking this dish in the pressure cooker using DRY garbanzo beans, that have been soaked for 8 hours, rinsed, and drained. See the Pressure Cooker Instructions below for that version.NOTE: You can add in some fresh spinach or other chopped greens into the chana masala at the end of the cooking process.
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion diced finely
- 6 cloves garlic minced or crushed
- 1 T ginger grated or crushed
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro chopped finely
- 1 T ground cumin
- 3/4 t sea salt or more to taste
- 1 T ground coriander
- 1/4-1/2 t Indian red chili powder DO NOT use Mexican chili powder–it is VERY different!. You can use a small amount of Cayenne pepper instead.
- 1 t ground turmeric
- 1 t garam masala
- 1 T coconut sugar (or 1 chopped date)
- One 28-oz can no-salt-added crushed tomatoes
- Two 15-oz cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans) rinsed and drained (or 3 cups of previously cooked chickpeas)
Instructions
- Stovetop Instructions:
- Steamfry the chopped onion in a large saucepan until tender and translucent.
- Then, add the chopped cilantro, ginger, and garlic and cook another 2 minutes.
- Add in the crushed tomatoes, the coconut sugar, and ALL of the dry spices listed. Add a little water (if the mixture is getting too thick). Finally, add in the cooked garbanzo beans. Bring everything to a gentle rolling boil, reduce heat, and simmer (covered) for 30 minutes, stirring often. Serve over cooked Basmati rice.
- Pressure Cooker Instructions (using dried, soaked beans):
- Soak about 8 oz. of dry garbanzo beans for 8 hours, rinse, and drain them. Add them and all of the ingredients to the pressure cooker–fill the pot with water, just to cover everything. Then, cook for 45 minutes on high pressure with NATURAL RELEASE. If you like it thicker than it comes out after stirring it up, you can take 1 1/2 cups of the cooked chana and a little liquid and blend it in a cup blender. Then, pour that mixture back into the pot, stirring it in with the rest of the chana masala. Serve over cooked Basmati rice.