Vegetarian Dishes
Chana Masala (Chickpea Curry)
A rich, tangy chickpea curry: whole cumin, onion cooked until deep golden, plenty of garlic, ginger and green chilli, ground spices and tomatoes simmered into a thick masala, with tender chickpeas, a squeeze of lemon and fresh coriander.
- Serves 4
- Ready in 40 min
- Vegan
- Better the next day
- Freezes well
- Indian (Punjabi)
Method
Heat the oil (3 tbsp) in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the cumin seeds (1 tsp) and let them sizzle for 30 seconds until fragrant.
Add the onions (2 onions) and a pinch of salt and cook for 12–15 minutes, stirring often, until deep golden brown. Take your time: this is the base of the flavour.
Stir in the garlic (5 cloves), ginger (20 g) and green chilli (1) for 2 minutes, then add the ground coriander (2 tsp), ground cumin (1 tsp), turmeric (½ tsp) and chilli powder (1 tsp) with a splash of water and stir for 1 minute.
Add the tomatoes (400 g) and cook for 8–10 minutes, stirring, until thick and the oil starts to separate at the edges.
Tip in the chickpeas (800 g) with 150 ml of their liquid or water. Simmer for 10 minutes, crushing a few chickpeas against the side of the pan to thicken the sauce.
Stir in the garam masala (1 tsp) and spinach (100 g) until the spinach wilts. Add the lemon juice (½ lemon), season with salt and scatter with coriander (a little). Serve with rice, naan or chapatis.
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See also
Chef’s notes
- America’s Test Kitchen keeps the chickpea liquid in the curry for body; a few crushed chickpeas do the same.
- BBC Good Food’s popular version stirs in creamed coconut for a richer, milder sauce; add 50 g with the chickpeas if you like.
- For a sharper Punjabi flavour, add ½ tsp amchur (dried mango powder) with the garam masala instead of lemon.
- Cooked from dried: soak 250 g dried chickpeas overnight and simmer for 1–1½ hours until tender.
How this recipe was developed
We compared BBC Good Food’s chickpea curry, America’s Test Kitchen’s chana masala and chickpea curry, and the most-rated chana masala on Allrecipes.
- Lots of garlic and ginger. BBC Good Food’s chickpea curry (4.65/5 from 508 ratings) uses a whole small bulb of garlic and a thumb of ginger; we use five cloves.
- Brown the onions well. All the versions build on onion; we cook it to deep golden for a darker, sweeter masala.
- Kashmiri chilli and the chickpea liquid. America’s Test Kitchen’s chana masala (4.1/5 from 507 ratings) uses Kashmiri chilli for colour and keeps the chickpea liquid.
- Finish fresh. Allrecipes’ Chana Masala (4.6/5 from 222 ratings) ends with garam masala and coriander; we add lemon too.
Sources we compared (ratings as shown on each site on 1 November 2026):
- BBC Good Food (Good Food team): Chickpea curry (4.65/5, 508 ratings)
- America's Test Kitchen (Andrea Geary): Chana Masala (4.1/5, 507 ratings)
- America's Test Kitchen (Matthew Fairman): Chickpea Curry (3.9/5, 525 ratings)
- Allrecipes (latinmama): Chana Masala (Indian Chickpea Curry) (4.6/5, 222 ratings)
This is an original Cookeryonline recipe written in our own words. Ingredient choices and techniques are credited above; no source text has been copied.