Recipe for restaurant style chana masala made with home made chana masala spice powder from scratch. Recipe with video.
This is an easy and delicious recipe that works perfectly for a weeknight dinner or for feeding a crowd at a party. The recipe can be easily doubled or tripled.
I make the spice masala powder in advance and store it in the freezer. The masala powder stays fresh for months if stored in the freezer. I make a big batch of the powder and store it so I always have a stash ready to go whenever I need it.
The ingredients that we do not use in a typical South Indian kitchen are black cardamom, amchur powder and kasuri methi. Amchur powder is dry mango powder. Kasuri Methi is nothing but dried fenugreek leaves powder. These ingredients give the North Indian style chana masala a unique taste and is very much required for making this recipe. Kashmiri red chilli powder gives this dish a bright dark red colour. A heavy duty mixie / blender is preferred for grinding the spice powder and the Indian style mixie works best. A coffee grinder can also be used.
Here are some things you can buy online for making this recipe
Heavy Duty Indian Mixie https://amzn.to/3GptNKD
Tri Ply Deep Fry Stainless Steel Saute pan https://amzn.to/347Rqdx
Black Cardamom https://amzn.to/3s6imUp
Amchur Powder / Dry Mango Powder https://amzn.to/3h1vB26
Kasuri Methi https://amzn.to/3JJfP8x
Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder / Lal Mirch Powder https://amzn.to/3GDQAT9
Here is the video of how to make Restaurant Style Chana Masala
Restaurant Style Chana Masala
Recipe for restaurant style chana masala made with home made chana masala spice powder from scratch. Recipe with video.
- Total Time: 60m
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Ingredients
Ingredients for making Chana Masala Powder
1 small piece cinnamon
2 cardamom
1 black cardamom
4 cloves
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon kasuri methi
2 teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon amchur powder
Other Ingredients
3 tablespoon peanut oil
1 bay leaf
1.5 cup onions, finely chopped
2 green chillies, slit
2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
2 tablespoon coriander leaves, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
5 tomatoes, ground to a puree
500 ml water
1 cup dry chickpea
Instructions
For making the spice powder
Dry roast cinnamon, black cardamom, cloves, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds and black pepper on a low flame till the spices are fragrant. Switch off the flame and add in the kasuri methi, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and amchur powder. Saute for a few seconds on the residual heat from the pan. Set aside this mixture to cool.
Once the mixture is cool, grind to a fine powder. Set aside. This powder can be stored in the freezer for months and will stay fresh. The spice powder recipe can be easily doubled or tripled accordingly.
For making chana masala
Soak the dry chickpeas in water overnight. Drain the water once the chickpeas are well soaked. Set aside.
Heat oil in a pressure cooker. I have used a 5 liter pressure cooker for making this recipe today. Add in a bay leaf. Add in finely chopped onions and saute till the onions are light brown in colour.
Add in the green chillies, ginger garlic paste and coriander leaves. Saute for a couple of minutes. Add in the prepared spice powder. Add all of it. Add in the salt. Add in a little sugar to balance the flavours. Saute for a few seconds.
Grind 5 tomatoes in a mixie to a puree. Add the puree to the pan. Make sure to use ripe tomatoes as ripe tomatoes always taste better in chana masala gravy. Mix well to combine. Add in about 500 ml water.
Add in the soaked and drained chickpea. Mix well. Cover the pressure cooker and add the whistle on. Wait for the first whistle. After the first whistle, reduce the flame of the stove to low / sim and let the chana masala cook for 30 minutes. Ignore the number of whistles. After 30 minutes, remove the cooker from heat and wait for the pressure to settle naturally.
Open the cooker and mix well. Restaurant style chana masala is ready. Serve with rice or roti.
- Prep Time: 15m
- Cook Time: 45m
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I read this post your post is so nice and very informative post thanks for sharing this post.
Thank you so much.
Hi Suguna, hope you’re well? KaSuri methi powder is Dried fenugreek leaves powder if I am not wrong? It has a different flavour to fenugreek powder which can be bitter 🙂
Hi Sharon, you are right. Its dried fenugreek leaves and not the seeds.
Such great! & informative article amazing post and great content. Thanks for sharing this article.Thanks Again!!
Thank you!