Vegan Malvani Style Green Chana | Chickpeas Masala

Malvani style Green Chana Masala is a very popular spicy & flavorful vegan curry from the Konkani cuisine. Delicious chickpeas are cooked in coconut gravy!

I have a couple of friends who hail from the Konkan region, the coastal area of Maharashtra. Although it is an independent cuisine, it overlaps Maharashtrian and Goan cuisine. Being a coastal area, fish is predominantly eaten in that region and they use a specific Malvani Masala in their cooking. Its made by roasting a variety of dry spices (15-16 spices) and then grinding them together to make a dry spice powder. It is a spicy powder with a very peculiar taste. I normally use a store-bought masala in my cooking but I really want to prepare it at home soon. I promise to share the recipe with you once I have tried and tested it. Also coconut is widely used in their recipes, hence most of their food is vegan.

If you are a regular here, you would know that I love to bring a new ingredient home every week for me to try. My weekly shopping trip is incomplete without this, in fact that is the highlight for me. This week, while I was going through the aisles at an Indian grocery store, I came across this Green Chana or chickpeas in the frozen section. I had never seen green chana before. I use regular chickpeas in my cooking very often and have also cooked with black chana but never green. I loved the color and got excited. So I immediately added a packet to my cart and then proceeded for checkout. The lady at the checkout was very friendly and we began chatting while she scanned my items. When she saw that I had picked up green chana, she asked me if I was going to prepare Malvani Chana Masala.

I had never heard of this dish before, so I just smiled back and told her that I have not yet decided what to make. While we were coming back home, I was thinking about what that lady had said and decided to check out this recipe. There were a couple of recipes online but then I decided to call one of my Konkani friends and ask her for this recipe. Next day I made a call to that friend of mine who indeed knew of this dish and immediately gave me her mom’s recipe. I love the way I stumbled upon this recipe! See how a trip to a grocery store gave me this lip smacking recipe! Thanks to that lady at the checkout who gave me this recipe idea. Talking about this dish, I love the simplicity of it. Using just few ingredients, you can create a wonderful side dish that pairs well with steamed rice or any Indian bread.

You need Malvani Masala to make this dish. I had the dry masala handy in my kitchen. Now let me show you how to make Vegan Malvani Style Green Chana. You need green chana for this dish. You can use dry chana which you can soak overnight and then boil it or use fresh/frozen green chana directly. In a mixer grinder, add freshly grated coconut, garlic and Malvani Masala. Blitz it by adding enough water to make a smooth paste. Keep it aside for now. Heat oil in a pan, fry chopped onions till they turn translucent. Then add the freshly ground masala to the pan and cook it for 2-3 minutes, till the raw smell goes away. Next add the green chana, water and salt. Cook on medium flame for 7-8 minutes. Then add tamarind paste, cream and chopped cilantro. Mix and serve warm with rice or bread.

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Malvani style Green Chana Masala

Malvani style Green Chana Masala is a very popular spicy & flavorful vegan curry from the Konkani cuisine. Delicious chickpeas are cooked in coconut gravy!

Author Priya Lakshminarayan

Instructions

1. You need Malvani Masala to make this dish. I had the dry masala handy in my kitchen. Now let me show you how to make Vegan Malvani Style Green Chana. You need green chana for this dish. You can use dry chana which you can soak overnight and then boil it or use fresh/frozen green chana directly. In a mixer grinder, add freshly grated coconut, garlic and Malvani Masala. Blitz it by adding enough water to make a smooth paste. Keep it aside for now. Heat oil in a pan, fry chopped onions till they turn translucent. Then add the freshly ground masala to the pan and cook it for 2-3 minutes, till the raw smell goes away. Next add the green chana, water and salt. Cook on medium flame for 7-8 minutes. Then add tamarind paste, cream and chopped cilantro. Mix and serve warm with rice or bread.

Here are some quick Indian meals that you can try – Vangyacha Rassa Bhaji | Indian Eggplant Curry, Chanya Ros | Goan Vegetarian Vatana curry, Mint & Pistachio Vegetable Rice, Shahjahani Dal | Royal Chickpeas Stew, Vegan Rajasthani Carrot & Peas Gravy, Vegan Sesame Flavored Green Beans Stir Fry and Chickpea & Black Rice Dumplings in Spinach Sauce Gravy.