Chana Aloo Masala

5 from 4 votes

Chana Masala is a classic chickpea curry seasoned with ginger, garlic, and heady spices. Chana Aloo Masala is the same thing, but with potatoes (aloo) added. It’s a hearty dish that is absolutely loaded with flavor.

Course Main Dish Recipes

Cuisine Indian

Keyword chana aloo masala, chickpea and potato curry, curry, indian curry, vegetarian curry

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 20

Total Time 25

Servings servings

Calories 126kcal

Author Robin Donovan

Ingredients

2 tablespoons oil
1 onion diced
1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
1 tablespoon garam masala
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon amchur dried mango powder
¾ teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 potato diced
2 14-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes
2 cups vegetable broth or water
¼ cup chopped cilantro

Instructions

Heat the oil in a large saucepan or deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and ginger garlic paste and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes.
Stir in the garam masala, cumin, coriander, amchur, chili powder, turmeric, black pepper, and salt and cook, stirring, for about 45 seconds.
Add the potatoes and chickpeas and stir to mix well with the onions and spices. Stir in the tomatoes and broth or water and then bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
Remove from the heat, stir in the chopped cilantro, and serve hot.

Notes

1. You can substitute cayenne pepper for the Kashmiri chili powder. Use about ½ as much cayenne or to taste.

2. I like to use a thin-skinned potato variety like Yukon Gold. Because the skin is thin, there is no need to peel the potato. If you use a thicker thinned variety, you may want to peel it before dicing.

3. I use canned chickpeas here to make this a really quick recipe, but you can use dried chickpeas. Soak them overnight in water, then simmer in a generous amount of lightly salted water for about 60 minutes. Or you can cook the dried chickpeas in the Instant Pot (no soaking required) as I do for my Instant Pot Hummus. Rinse 1 ½ cups of dried chickpeas and then put them in the Instant Pot with about 6 cups of water. Pressure cook for 30 minutes, then you can proceed with this recipe as written substituting the pressure cooked chickpeas for the canned chickpeas.

4. This Chana Masala will keep well in the refrigerator. Store it in a covered container for up to 5 days. I don’t recommend freezing it, though, because the texture of the potatoes will suffer.

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