This delicious Black Chana Masala is an easy to make chickpea curry made with black chickpeas. It's bursting with flavor and is a healthy Meatless Monday vegetarian dinner recipe.
Ingredients
2cupsdried black chickpeas, or 6 cups cooked black or regular chickpeas
2tablespoonscooking oil
1largeonion, finely minced
1pinchbaking soda
1teaspoonEACH: mustard seeds and cumin seeds
2tablespoonsfinely minced ginger
4clovesgarlic, minced
1-2serrano chilis, finely minced - remove seeds for a less spicy curry
2tablespoonstomato paste
2teaspoonsEACH: coriander and garam masala
1teaspoonturmeric
28ouncecan diced tomatoes
1cupchopped cilantro
Juice of 1 lemon
Instructions
Place the dried chickpeas in a large pot and fill it with water. Let it sit overnight on your counter, or for 8-24 hours. Drain the chickpeas and add fresh water to the pot. Bring the pot to a boil over high heat then reduce the heat and simmer for 1 ½ hours, or until the chickpeas are soft. Drain and set aside.
2 cups dried black chickpeas
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and let it cook until it's soft, about 5 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium and add the baking soda to the pan. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is dark brown, about 10 minutes. Add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, ginger, garlic, and chilis to the pan and cook until a dark brown paste forms, about 5 minutes more. (See the pictures in the post to see what it should look like.)
Push this onion paste to the side of the pan and add the tomato paste. Let it caramelize until is smells sweet and darkens slightly, about 3 minutes. Add the coriander, garam masala, and turmeric to the pan and let it cook for 1 minute more.
Add the diced tomatoes to the pan and gently break them up with a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon. You want some texture here, just not big chunks of tomatoes. Add the cooked chickpeas, sea salt, and a ½ cup of water to the pan and let it simmer for a half hour. If you're serving this with rice, now is the time to start cooking it.
28 ounce can diced tomatoes
Season with extra sea salt if needed and then stir in the cilantro and lemon juice just before serving.
1 cup chopped cilantro, Juice of 1 lemon
Notes
Prep time does not include the time you'll need to soak the chickpeas.