Name: Vegan Chana Masala
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 40 min
Ingredients: 2 cups dry chickpeas; 1 tbsp ginger paste; 2-3 tbsp chole masala; ½ tbsp paprika/chili powder; 1 cinnamon stick; 3-4 slit green chilies; 1 tbsp garlic paste; 2 tbsp tomato paste; 2 tomatoes (chopped); 1 onion (chopped); ¼ cup cilantro (chopped); 1 tsp turmeric powder; 1 tbsp coriander powder; 1 tbsp cumin powder; 1 tbsp garam masala; 1 tbsp amchur powder; Salt; 1 tbsp Kasuri methi; 1 tbsp lemon juice; 1 tbsp cooking oil/ghee/butter

Recipe Print

Easy vegan Chana Masala (made in Instant Pot and Stovetop) is a spiced chickpea curry! This Pindi Chole recipe is the most popular North Indian dish.

This extremely flavorful curry loaded with Indian flavors can be made under 45 minutes!

a tray with a bowl of Vegan Chana Masala and jeera rice on it along with a small bowl of lemon slices

Best served with Jeera Rice

Most popular curry in the house

If there is one dish that is a regular in our house then it has to be Punjabi Chole or Chana Masala. We make it every few days and the best thing is even KR cooks this dish well.

We both love chickpeas cooked in Indian masala gravy and enjoy it guilt-free.

What is Chole

Punjabi Chole is a popular dish from the Indian subcontinent, notably in North Indian and Pakistani cuisines. It's made with chickpeas.

The spice quotient is mainly medium to spicy and it's cooked in tomato-onion gravy. The chickpeas need to be cooked right and remain whole.

Favorite Memories

Growing up, whenever we would go to a particular restaurant, Dad and I would always order Chole Bhature.

Even today, when I visit that restaurant near my home, I always land up ordering it. I somehow connect this dish to my pleasant memory of dining with my dad.

My school canteen would also serve it. The lady at the canteen there would serve Chole Bread every Monday for us students.

There would be particularly long queues that day because this dish was a hit in our school.

The aroma would reach us first before the lunch-break even started and we would all rush to order it. It would sell like hot cakes!

I'm dedicating my today's post to my dad and the canteen lady at my school.

Recipe Video

Some of my favorite chickpea recipes

While Chana Masala is a gravy version, there is also a dry version called Chickpea Stir Fry/Tawa Chole which is delicious as well.

a bowl of Vegan Chana Masala served with jeera rice and lemon slices on top

Quick and easy dinner recipe

Why this is the best chickpeas curry

Chana Masala which literally means chickpea curry is usually a vegan curry but some like to make it in ghee/butter instead of oil which makes it non-vegan.

But otherwise, there is no dairy used to make chana masala curry.

This gravy is very delicious to taste and super easy to make using basic pantry staples.

It can easily be made on a stovetop or in the Instant Pot. I have shared both versions here.

Ingredients needed

Chickpeas - Raw, uncooked chickpeas are more economical to use and that is what I mostly use. But you can use canned chickpeas as well.

Why soak chana?

If using raw chickpeas, soaking is an important step in order to cook them well. Soaking makes the chickpeas plump and it helps them cook faster. It also helps in reducing flatulence.

Chole masala spice blend - You can find this on Amazon or any Indian grocery store. This spice blend is what gives Pindi Chole its authentic flavor.

In absence of this, you may use regular garam masala.

Veggies like onions and tomatoes are very essential in giving this chickpea curry its flavor. You can also add bell peppers.

all the ingredients needed to make Vegan Chana Masala placed in a tray with labels on them

This is what will give this curry its flavor

Here's how to make it

This is the Instant Pot I use. You can watch the recipe video above to see how to make it and/or follow the instructions below.

Instant Pot Version (Soaking needed)

The first step is to soak chickpeas in hot water for 5 hours or soak it overnight. Drain the water and keep aside for now.
Turn on the Instant pot in saute mode. Add oil/vegan butter to the pot.
Once it melts, add ginger paste, garlic paste, slit green chilies, cinnamon stick, and half of the chopped cilantro.
Fry for 15 seconds and then add the chopped onions. Saute till they turn translucent.
Then add the chopped tomatoes and tomato paste. Cook till they turn soft and pulpy.
Next, add all the spices: turmeric powder, ground cumin, coriander powder, amchur powder, paprika, and garam masala.
Add ½ cup water to prevent the spices from burning or sticking to the bottom of the pan. Then add the chole masala. Fry for 15 seconds.
Next, add 3 ½ cups of water to the pot. Add salt. Follow by adding the soaked and drained chickpeas. Mix everything well.
Turn off the saute mode. Cover with lid with the vent in the sealing position. Cook in manual or pressure mode for 40 minutes.
You can also select the chili mode. Once done, let the pressure release naturally. Then open the lid.
Garnish with the remaining cilantro, Kasuri methi, and lemon juice.
Mix it all together and if you want to thicken the gravy, cook in saute mode for 2 minutes.

Stovetop Version

You can use canned chickpeas to save on the cooking time (no need to soak canned chickpeas). I prefer boiling in a pressure cooker, chickpeas that were soaked overnight, with salt and turmeric powder.

Heat oil/vegan butter in a pan, fry cumin seeds. Then add garlic, ginger, and green chilies. Fry for a minute.
Then add chopped onions and a cinnamon stick. Continue to saute till the onions turn translucent.
Next, add the chopped tomatoes, salt, tomato paste, and paprika. Continue to cook the tomatoes for 3-4 minutes, till they are soft and done.
Now add the dry spices like chole masala, garam masala, coriander-cumin powder, amchur powder, and turmeric powder.
Fry for a minute and then add the boiled chickpeas. Mix it all together and continue to cook for another 2 minutes.
Smash some chickpeas in the process, it will help the gravy to thicken.
Garnish with chopped cilantro and kasoori methi. Take the pan off the flame.

a hand holding a spoon and digging into a bowl of Vegan Chana Masala

A drool-worthy Indian curry

Serving Suggestions

You can also add some raw chopped onions and squeeze lime juice over it. Punjabi Chana/Chickpea Masala is now ready.

What do you eat it with?

It tastes the best when served with Jeera Rice, any mildly flavored rice, or even plain steamed rice.

Another popular combination is to serve it with Poori/Puri or Bhature.

We also pair it with bread or any Indian flatbread like roti, naan, or chapati.

Top tips, recommendations, and suggestions

In case you don't have chole masala, you may skip it. Just add the other spice mixes.

To make traditional Pindi Chole, a tea bag is added while pressure cooking and discarded after. While adding it does not alter the flavors, it lends a deep brown color to the curry.

You can use canned chickpeas for the Instant pot version. No need to soak canned chickpeas.

Use a 1:1 ratio for chickpeas and water. Follow all the steps and pressure cook for 5 minutes.

After the cooking cycle completes, do a quick release or allow natural pressure release.

If you are using old or organic beans, increase the cooking time by 5-8 minutes.

Adjust the consistency by adding more or less water. To thicken the gravy, add 1 tablespoon cornstarch, rice flour, or chickpea flour mixed with 2-3 tablespoon of water.

This recipe can be easily doubled, however, the pressure cook time remains the same.

You can follow this recipe to cook any variety of beans like black-eyed peas, kidney beans, pigeon peas, lima beans, etc.

Forgot to soak chickpeas? No problem. Soak them in hot water, covered for 40 minutes. Then use.

You can also cook them in the Instant pot manual mode for 55 minutes followed by natural pressure release.

Punjabi Chole can be easily frozen for a couple of months. It also stays well in the fridge for 4-5 days.

You can also pre-cook the chickpeas and freeze them. That way, whenever you feel like cooking with chickpeas, you can save on time and make something instantly.

a round bowl filled with Vegan Chana Masala with a spoon in it

Comfort meal for weeknights

If you’ve tried this Vegan Chana Masala Recipe or any other recipe on the blog please let me know how it went by commenting below, I love hearing from you!

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Listen to this recipe on our Podcast Channel!

Cookilicious Kitchen Stories

Ease into Indian vegan/vegetarian cooking and work your way up from simple spice mixes to complex curries.

My food blog Cookilicious features a collection of detailed, mouth-watering vegetarian and vegan recipes.

This is our seventh episode, in which I have shared the recipe for Instant Potato Dosa. This is a delicious breakfast dish from Southern India.

Dosa is an Indian crepe that is popularly paired with a condiment called a Chutney. The recipe Ithat I'm going to talk about in today's episode is:

Potato Dosa

This is the Chutney I recommend pairing this Dosa with. I spoke about it in Episode 6:

Andhra Style Chutney Recipe

You will find more chutney recipes on this page:

Condiments

The traditional Dosa recipe is here:

Uttapam/Dosa Batter

These are some more delicious Dosa recipes that you may find interesting:

If you try any of these dishes, then I would love to see photos of your dish - my Instagram handle is @cookilicious.
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December 30, 2020

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