Chana Masala (Indian Chickpea Curry)

4.6
(221)
161 Reviews
52 Photos

Give this chana masala dish a try and don't look back! This Indian chickpea curry features a hearty mixture of chickpeas, tomatoes, onion, green chili, and warm Indian spices. Both carnivores and vegetarians will enjoy this meal. My kids love it. Serve over basmati or jasmine rice and enjoy. Namaste y'all!

Submitted by latinmama
Updated on March 19, 2026
Tested by
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looking down at a skillet of Chana Masala
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Prep Time:
15 mins
Cook Time:
15 mins
Total Time:
30 mins
Servings:
2
Yield:
2 cups

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

  • This hearty vegetarian meal combines chickpeas, tomatoes, and warming spices.
  • Home cooks like experimenting with the spice level to suit their preference.
  • Allrecipes member J E says, "Easy to make. Simple ingredient list. Very pleased with the results. "
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Ingredients

Original recipe (1X) yields 2 servings

  • 1 onion, chopped

  • 1 tomato, chopped

  • 1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped, or more to taste

  • 1 green chile pepper, seeded and chopped (Optional)

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil

  • 2 fresh bay leaves

  • 1 teaspoon chili powder

  • 1 teaspoon coriander powder

  • 1 teaspoon garam masala

  • ½ teaspoon turmeric powder

  • 1 pinch salt, or to taste

  • water, as needed

  • 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, drained

  • 1 teaspoon fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish, or more to taste

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Directions

  1. Grind onion, tomato, ginger, garlic, and chile pepper together in a food processor into a paste.

    chana masala spice paste in food processor

    Dotdash Meredith Food Studios

  2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Fry bay leaves in hot oil until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour the paste into the skillet and cook until the oil begins to separate from the mixture and is golden brown in color, 2 to 3 minutes. Season the mixture with chili powder, coriander, gram masala, turmeric, and salt; cook and stir until very hot, 2 to 3 minutes.

    chana masala gravy in skillet with wooden spoon

    Dotdash Meredith Food Studios

  3. Stir just enough water into the mixture to get a thick sauce; bring to a boil and stir chickpeas into the sauce. Reduce heat to medium and cook until the chickpeas are heated through, 5 to 7 minutes. Garnish with cilantro.

    chana masala in skillet with wooden spoon

    Dotdash Meredith Food Studios

Cook’s Note

Leave out the green chile if kiddies will be eating. Serve with a matar paneer recipe to round out this Indian dinner. As an optional serving suggestion, serve with Indian Naan Bread instead of rice.

587 home cooks made it!

Nutrition Facts (per serving)

413 Calories
23g Fat
46g Carbs
9g Protein
Nutrition Facts
Servings Per Recipe 2
Calories 413
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 23g 29%
Saturated Fat 3g 16%
Sodium 525mg 23%
Total Carbohydrate 46g 17%
Dietary Fiber 10g 35%
Total Sugars 5g
Protein 9g 19%
Vitamin C 76mg 84%
Calcium 103mg 8%
Iron 3mg 18%
Potassium 635mg 14%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.

(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.

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Reviews (161)

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Chana Masala (Indian Chickpea Curry)

My Rating

4.6 out of 5
221 Ratings
5 star
152
4 star
55
3 star
12
2 star
2
1 star
0

587 home cooks made it!

Most helpful positive review
Lil Liz
03/23/2014
I just made this tonight. I made some modifications…used a can of tomatoes, 1/2 can diced green chiles, used 1/4 tsp. powdered ginger, added 1/4 tsp. of cayenne, and left out the coriander because I didn't have any. This recipe only took me maybe 15 minutes to make because of the canned ingredients (oh, the canned tomatoes made it so that I didn't have to add water at the end). This tasted wonderful! I go to Indian restaurants often and it definitely rivaled the chana masala I've had there. My husband also loved it. There was enough sauce that I probably could have added another can of chickpeas and it would have still been fine. Thank you for the great recipe!

Featured Tweaks

Tasha French Lemley
06/22/2018
I used dry chana soaked overnight and pressure cooked, three medium roma tomatoes, 3/4 a large white onion. The green chili I used was a small thai chili and the chili powder hot Indian pepper. I also used a pinch of hing. Very good! Thank you so much!
James Bernheimer
02/20/2021
Very delicious and very easy. I too substituted 1\4 tsp ground ginger. The garlic, onions, and chili I just cooked down in olive oil so it would disappear into the gravy. In place of the tomato I just used an 8 oz can of unseasoned tomato sauce. Between the sauce and the water in the can of chickpeas the gravy came out perfectly without the need to add any water. I then added some additional diced tomato and diced onion as the chickpeas were simmering for texture.
Elizabeth Hill
12/07/2017
It's not EXACTLY like the restaurant chana masala I am used to, but it is very good. If you want chana masala in a pinch and don't have the special ingredients like chana masala spice blend and amchur powder, this seems like a great go to. We ate it with basmati rice and naan. I will probably make this again, though I may keep tweaking the spices to get the perfect flavor! I mostly followed the recipe but I made a few little changes 1) I probably used less ginger because I doubled the recipe but only had one inch and a half-sized knob. 2) I used roma tomatoes, which were small, so I doubled the amount of tomatoes 3) for the spices, I added a teaspoon of cumin and cut the chili powder in half because I wasn't sure it was the right kind. 4) like other reviewers pointed out, the paste didn't cook as fast as the recipe seems to say it will, so the chickpeas were in a sort of crunchy gravy. My canned chickpeas were also sort of too firm, so I simmered them in the gravy for 20 minutes which cooked down the paste and made the chickpeas more tender (and melded the flavors a lot more). 5) I added a dash of sugar, 6) I used some veggie broth instead of water because I had it opened in the fridge and it made more sense. 7) It seemed like it was missing some acidity, so I added a few good splashes of lemon juice. Overall, very yummy and definitely worthwhile!
J.G.
03/01/2026
Drain the chick peas and reserve the water (aqua fava), use the aqua fava instead of water. It will thicken the sauce beautifully.
Karen Olson
01/29/2019
We loved it- with a couple of exceptions.. I did not make the paste- just finely chopped the onions, garlic and ginger and cooked til soft, added the dry seasonings and let cook about three minutes. Added water to make the gravy and then drained chick peas and three cups of cooked cauliflower. After testing I went back and doubled the cumin, chili, coriander and turmeric- PERFECTION!
Morgan H
06/05/2019
I did not use oil but just used water to sauté the bay leaves. I used 2 cans of chickpeas (with the juice of only one can) and added a half teaspoon of cumin. Oh, I also used a jalapeño instead of a chili pepper! I like my foods spicy spicy, so this worked out perfectly. I didn’t have to add any extra water in addiction to the juices from the chickpeas. Absolutely delicious!
Marion
06/09/2017
I made this for a (large) family dinner, so I tripled the recipe. My daughter-in-law is Indian and she has a recipe, but it takes hours to cook down, and this was ready in about 45 minutes and tasted just as good as hers does (she said this). Several of the family are not good with a lot of heat, so I left out the peppers, and I made a mistake and added a heaping teaspoon of cumin thinking it was the chili powder, but it didn't ruin the dish, it just added a bit of complexity to the sauce. I puréed the onions and tomatoes in my blender, and they came out almost the perfect consistency (I did have to add a little bit of water). This was a big hit with young and old.
TrendyTimer1697
10/19/2024
Great flavors
Nice tartness and complexity. I made with canned chickpeas for a quick side for Indian dinner. I've made many chana masala recipes and have mostly been disappointed. This is my favorite so far. Only negative is the slightly gritty mouth feel the pureed onions, ginger and garlic give to the sauce. I think it would be a better texture to saute the aromatics, add the tomatoes and cook down. THEN puree for a nice smooth texture.
AmberEel4376
10/02/2024
Needs more flavor
Nice recipe but takes lot of time. To quicken the process should use 2-3 tomato without the skin and grinded together in grinder along with 3-4 onions, 2 green chillis, coriander, ginger garlic paste. Once the thick paste is created, fry it in a pan with some oil, cumin seeds and after 5 min add boiled chickpeas and 30 grams of paneer, spices(to taste) along with some water. Then let it simmer for 10 min. Once smell the spices are cooked, let it sit for 5 min. Garnish with more coriander and you are good to go.
LIZ
08/19/2018
I modified this slightly... Used 3 roma tomatoes) that's all I had) I omitted the chilies because I didn't have any, I used nearly 2 inch knob of ginger and grated in fresh turmeric. I added cubed sweet potato with the the chick peas and a block of frozen spinach. I sautéed for about 10 minutes until it was no longer vibrant red and really until it dried up all the moisture from the tomatoes. Added about a cup of water as needed and simmered. Oh my goodness it was absolutely delicious. Wanted to swim in the pan! Perfect dish for whole food plant based lifestyle.
161 Reviews
Katie
04/01/2026
Delicious and super fast to prepare. It could use some spicing up if you like to turn up the heat. As with most Indian recipes, it tastes great the next day.
Nuclear
01/17/2026
I LOVE this dish, its become a staple in my house and I eat it almost every week
LOVESTOCOOK
11/16/2025
A keeper!Great flavorsEasy to followWorth the effort
I followed the recipe as written. I didn't have the green chiles but they were optional. I added a 1/4 tsp dried chile flakes and I needed close to a tsp of salt. Cilantro is more for color than flavour. I save the recipe and make it often and sometimes I use cooked soybeans for a lower carb option.
fruitdog
10/17/2025
We both enjoyed this, it was mild for our tastes. I used most of a can of chopped tomatoes for the paste and added cumin to the spices. Used the remaining chopped tomatoes to add with the peas. Hubs said it tasted more like chili, so next time I'll double the hot pepper and all the spices but the chili powder. Served with jasmine rice and garlic naan for a very comforting meal.
Adele Huughe
05/01/2025
A keeper!Great flavorsEasy to follow
super awesome recipe! I recommend adding another 1 green Chile if you like it medium spicy, and 2 if you like it spicy spicy. You do not not need a a food processor by any means, a blender works just fine!
YellowRoe5697
04/22/2025
Easy to followWorth the effortGreat flavors
My wife and I made this recipe. We used it as a side dish for Bangladeshi beef curry.
Pamela McGhee
04/15/2025
A keeper!Great flavorsEasy to followWorth the effort
Excellent protein dish. Cooked it for the first time, I cooked the recipe exactly and It wasn't too. spicy.
tkatsirochef
10/28/2024
I make this with eggplant and boneless chicken thighs. Not vegetarian but oh so good!
LoftyOat9109
09/18/2024
Great flavorsEasy to followA keeper!

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