This recipe came about because there was very little food in the house! I found a jar of Bold Bean Co queen chickpeas and a tin of Mutti finely chopped tomatoes, so it had to be Chana Masala.
The masala base for this recipe, is a great one to know, as it's really versatile and can be easily adapted for use with other pulses and vegetables.
In this recipe, I've used a whole tin of finely chopped tomatoes, when traditionally there's much less tomato used. Sometimes, chopped tomatoes are replaced with tomato puree and water, so do feel free to experiment.
We served this as a main meal, but it would also be great as a side dish or as part of a Thali.
4 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 large white onion
1 green chilli
2-3 teaspoons of fresh ginger
3 large cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon of turmeric
2 teaspoons of ground cumin
2 teaspoons of ground coriander
2 teaspoons of garam masala
1 teaspoon of chilli
400g of cooked chickpeas (when drained)
400g tin of finely chopped tomatoes
Salt to taste
Fresh coriander to garnish
- Peel and dice the onion.
- Peel and grate the garlic and ginger.
- Chop the tomatoes.
- Remove the seeds from the chilli and finely dice.
- Drain the chickpeas.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large lidded pan over a medium heat.
- Once the oil is hot , add the onion and ground cumin and sauté the onion until it becomes translucent, (adding more oil to the pan as needed).
- Add the garlic, ginger, dry spices (except the garam masala), green chilli and salt. Fry for 1-2 minutes, being careful not to burn the spices.
- Add the tomatoes and chickpeas, and stir to combine.
- Bring to a rolling simmer (almost boiling), then reduce the heat and cook for 20 minutes until the sauce has thickened.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the garam masala.
- Leave to cool slightly before serving.
- Garnish with the chopped coriander leaves.
