Kala chana curry recipe – Boiled black chickpeas are simmered in healthy, flavorful tomato gravy. It is no onion no garlic recipe.
This kala chana curry has slight tangy or sour taste. It comes from the tomatoes as well as from the addition of amchur powder. This flavor goes perfect with chana.
Besan is added here. This helps to make thick gravy. It also adds nutty flavor in the
I grew up eating sookha kala chana. Just because my mom always makes it and pair it with rice, kadhi and roti as a comfort meal. But recently, hubby asked me to make kala chana made with tomato gravy just like his mom makes it. Immediately, I call my mother-in-law and wrote down the recipe. I made it and oh boy, I just loved it.
The only change I made is the addition of ginger. She always makes jain dishes so there was no ginger in the original recipe. So if you want to make it jain recipe, please skip the ginger. Also this is no onion no garlic recipe.
Being low in fat, high in dietary fiber and rich in vitamins and minerals, black chickpeas can indeed be a healthy addition to your diet. It is family favorite beans, Hence you will find many recipes using kala chana.
This requires 8 hours or overnight soaking which reduces the cooking time. Bad at pre-planning? What if you forgot to soak? Here is the quick soaking method: take washed kala chana in a pan, add plenty of water. Bring to a boil and let it boil for 5 minutes. Then turn off the stove. Cover with lid and let it rest for 1 hour. After 1 hour discard the water and use the chana to pressure cook.
Always use ripe tomatoes otherwise, gravy will taste too sour. If you have slightly sour tomatoes, reduce the amchur powder quantity.
Check out more recipes using kala chana
Punjabi kala chana masala // Dry kala chana // Kala chana chaat // Kala chana kadhi.
How to make kala chana curry recipe (Step by Step Photos):
1) Wash dry kala chana under running cold water till water runs clear.
2) Add enough water and soak for at least 8 hours or overnight.
3) After the soaking time, it gets larger in size.
4) Now discard the soaking water, take chana to pressure cooker. Add new 1 ½ cups of water. Cover with the lid, turn the heat and pressure cook it for 2 whistles on High + 30 minutes on medium-low.
Let the pressure go down by itself then open the lid. Chana should be cooked all the way through and soft. If you press it between thumb and finger, it should mash easily. Keep it aside.
5) While chana is pressure cooking, make the tomato puree. Take 2 tomatoes and roughly chop them. Also chop ginger and green chilies.
6) Make smooth puree using tomato, ginger and green chilies in blender or grinder. Keep it aside.
7) Heat the oil in a pan on medium heat. Once hot add cumin seeds. Let them sizzle a bit.
8) Then add besan. and immediately stir it and cook for 1 minute. You will get nutty toasted aroma of besan. Be careful, do not let the flour get burn.
9) Now add prepared tomato puree.
10) Also add salt, red chili powder and coriander powder.
11) Mix well and let it come to a simmer.
12) Keep cooking with stirring occasionally till all the moisture is evaporated and it becomes like a thick paste.
13) Now add garam masala and amchur powder.
14) Mix well and cook for a minute.
15) Now add boiled chana with its water.
16) Mix well. If needed, you can extra water to make gravy consistency. I have added another ½ cup of water.
17) Let the gravy come to a simmer and let it simmer for 4-5 minutes.
18) Now turn off the stove. Lastly sprinkle chopped coriander leaves and mix.
kala chana curry is ready to serve. If not serving it right away then keep it covered, so it stays warm till the time of serving.
Serving suggestion: Serve this kala chana curry with roti or paratha. It can be served with plain rice. To make a complete meal, serve kachumber, chaas and roasted urad papad on side.
Kala chana curry recipe
Ingredients (1 cup = 240 ml)
For pressure cooking:
- ¾ cup Dry Kala chana (black chickpeas or desi chana)
- 1 ½ cups Water
To make puree:
- 2 medium Tomato
- 2 small Green chili
- ½ inch Ginger
For kala chana curry:
- 1 ½ tablespoons Oil
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon Besan (gram flour)
- 1 teaspoon Red chili powder
- 2 teaspoons Coriander powder
- Salt to taste
- ½ teaspoon Garam masala
- 1 teaspoon Amchur powder (Dried mango powder)
- ½ to 1 cup Water
- 2 tablespoons Cilantro or coriander leaves chopped finely
Instructions
Preparation and cooking chana:
Wash the chana under running cold water and soak for 8 hours or overnight.
Then discard the soaking water and take soaked chana into a pressure cooker.
Add fresh 1 ½ cups of water. Cover with the lid, pressure cook it for 2 whistles on High + 30 minutes on medium-low.
Let the pressure go down by itself then open the lid. Check the chana by pressing between thumb and finger, it should mash easily.
To make tomato puree, take chopped tomatoes, ginger, green chilies into a grinder and make smooth puree.
Making kala chana curry recipe:
Heat the oil in a pan on medium heat. Once hot add cumin seeds and let them sizzle a bit.
Then add besan and immediately stir it and cook for 1 minute.
Add prepared tomato puree, salt, red chili powder and coriander powder. Mix well and let it cook till the moisture is evaporated and you get thick paste. Do stir occasionally.
Mix in garam masala and amchur powder and cook for a minute.
Now add boiled chana with its water + more 1/2 cup of water.
Mix and let the gravy simmer for 4-5 minutes. Now turn off the stove.
- Lastly sprinkle chopped coriander leaves and mix.
Hi Kanan, thank you for that great recipe.. I have one doubt..can I use lemon juice as a substitute for amchur powder?
yes you can use lemon juice instead
Very easy for me I will coo this for my mom on mother’s day😍👌
Happy Cooking !!!
Simple and tasty recipe…i tried it and it was very tasty
happy to know that you liked.
Thank you for the feedback.
This is one of my favourite dish…
glad that you liked
nice recipe .I love to eat….
Nicely explained. This is a good recipe for person who just started cooking. Easy to cook and not much time taking.
Glad to know that you find it helpful
Tried this recipe and it turned out to be sooo delicious..My boyfriend hates kala chana in general but he was seen licking his fingers..keep up the awesome work 🙂 Thanks!!
Very glad to hear that you both liked this recipe.
Thank you Akanksha for the positive feedback.
I made it exactly as told above and it came out very well. It was quick and tasty. I had no idea no-onion-garlic food can taste this good.
Glad to hear that you liked. Many recipes without onion garlic tastes good, if made with right ingredients.
Can i use lemon juice ?
yes you can. If using lemon juice, skip aamchur
Thanks for the recipe
you’re welcome
Can I add lemon juice instead of amchur powder? And if yes, how much?
Yes you can. Start with 1/2 teaspoon and taste. If needed add little more.
It was really easy and yummy
Thank you. Glad to know you liked
Really simple and tasty!!! I used one can of kala chana and that reduced cooking time by a great deal.
Good to hear that you liked this recipe
Reallyeasy to make
Am an amateur cook so ur very systematic receipe helped me a lot. Came out good but a little tangy. Ended up reading ur note at the end about adjusting the Amchur powder. Anywayz will be trying more of ur receipes for sure.
Thank you for your feedback Renita.
Hope you enjoy other recipes as well.
So delicious!
I made it and it turned out awesome. My husband couldn’t stop eating it. Thanks for the awesome kala Chana recipe. Couldn’t believe anything without onion and garlic could taste so good
Thank you for your feedback Bijal.
Glad to know that this came out good.
It looks tasty… I tried many kala chana preparation when I was in Delhi, India… and I just loved it. In eastern side of India, very less variety of kala chana preparation are available.
Just a random issue…..
Can I prepare kala chana in microwave oven too?
Kala chana takes long time to cook, so not sure how it works in microwave. Never tried it.
Was delicious!!
Glad you liked
Nice .I am going to cook this.
Hope you enjoy Priya.
Iwanted diffeent taste and i got d new receipe..I tried it .It is easy&tasty as well .Thanks.
glad to know you liked it
Superb recipe I love this very very tasty
Thank you
Hello mam. I tried this recipe of yours. Color came amazing but the sabzi turned a bit bitter. Can you please tell me if I went somewhere wrong, so that I can be cautious about it next time. I have tried many recipes from your blog and all have tturned out super yummyummy uptil now.
If the besan is not fresh it may taste bitter. to check it is fresh or not, take a tablespoon of it in a bowl, by adding water make batter like. then taste it by dipping your finger. If it tastes bitter then besan is not fresh and it also affects in the sabzi. Hope this helps.
I don’t see any other ingredient that makes the curry bitter.
Absolutely loved it. Was looking for a kala chana recipe with gravy but thick consistency and this one nailed it with besan. Everybody loved this version. Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work 🙂
Nice to know that everyone liked it. Thanks for the positive review.
Real quick n simple recipe. I m trying it right away. Thanks for the pics.. Makes life easier 😉
Great. Hope you like it
This is a very simple recipe and it came out very well. I love not having to cut onions. Had it with dosa for breakfast
Great. Thanks for the positive review.
Hi Kanan, thank you very much for the recipe with images. Just made it for dinner.
Your post is very helpful for bachelors.
Nice to know that recipes and images are helpful
I tried your recipe here in USA by myself and it reminds me same kala chana nu sak which I used to have in some social function like : “havan”.
Loved it.
Thanks for share.
Great. Nice to know that you liked it. Thanks for the feedback.
Hello Kanan,
I tried your recipe today, and it was so good that I had to come back and thank you for it.
Then I got to reading your “About me” section. As it happens, I spent a couple of years in Ahmedabad in the late 80s.
(In fact, I also took my first steps in cooking while living there as a young guy. My room-mates lives depended on it — virtually the one-eyed leading the blind!) Haven’t been back there since. Must have changed a lot by now. But who knows, as a little girl you might have seen me there! You know… Indian-looking guy, medium-height…no? Hehe, just kidding.
Anyway, I just wanted to say: all the best with your blog, and please do continue publishing nice recipes like this.
Regards.
Nice to know that you liked this recipe.
haha, yea I think I have seen you. 🙂
Simple and delicious, very nice. My family enjoyed it. Thanks for posting it:)
Great. Nice to hear that
thanks for ur easy racipe.
you’re welcome
Thanks for the lovely recipe. I am definitely going to try this. Just a cooking question. Most other recipes on various websites mention use of onion in the preparation of Kala Chana and it occurred to me that you have not used it in your recipe.
Will it make any difference in the taste?
Yes Most people make this kala chana Punjabi style and it uses basic Punjabi onion-tomato gravy. While I made it Gujarati style with besan and tomato gravy. Both will have different taste and flavors.
As paryushan are going on I was looking for the receipe for Kala chana and that’s how reached ur blog. They turned out just awesome..
Nice to hear that you liked the recipe. I also made this yesterday as my family also following Paryushan.
I liked the way of representation found very easy
i was cooking for first time liked it the most thank u
Nice to know that you liked it. Thank you Pavankumar
I was browsing and came across your blog. You have tempted me to try too many recipes from your list. I am going to try them one by one. One suggestion with the kala chana that i learnt from a friend, that you may like – instead of cooking the chana separately, try to make the tomato masala and then add soaked chana to it and then pressure cook. Also grind a handful of soaked chana and add to it before cooking. Makes a big difference…and also saves you a step in cooking. this way all the flavors are soaked into the chana.
Thank you Hema, I have never heard of this process. Good to know some new things. 🙂
Thank you… Loved ur recipe.. Came out really good..
glad to know you like it.
Thanks…even a beginner like me can try dis.
nice recepe I have tried it is delicious
Happy to know that curry came out delicious.
Is turmeric not needed for this recipe???
nope. if you want you can add 1/4 teaspoon. it won’t make any big difference. only color might look different.
Do you need a pressure cooker? Cook longer?
if you cook in a pressure cooker then it will cook faster. but you can also cook in open pot with lots of water, but it takes almost an hour or more than an hour, not sure because I have never cooked this way. you need to check in between to make sure that water is enough, if needed you can add some more water and let it simmer on medium heat till chana is cooked.
very delicious but in pakistan my mom just cook kala chana with shorba ………. a have seen kala chaana kari fr the 1st time . i am going to try this fr my brothers and sisters ……….hope they will like it,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,thanks fr sharing this recipie
Hope your brothers and sisters like this curry. 🙂
This is the best kala Chana I have ever made and tasted!! Thank you so much 🙂
Glad that you liked it. Thanks for your feedback.
looks yummy. will definitely try.
Thanks Parvathy. do try it and let us know how you like it.
Thnx so much… Em going to try this….
how many person can be served in your recipe’s mentioned ingrediants
Hi Princess, it serves 2 persons generously (means curry+rice or curry+roti/paratha only). it is also mentioned in the recipe, you can see it right below the print button.
Thnx so much… Em going to try this….
Curry looks delicious 🙂
hi dear, looks very delicious. i have never seen or eaten black chickpeas before.
must try look out for it at the supermarket. how have you been doing? have a nice day
i like ur prsentation and i definately try it.
super awesum dish.never feels bore to have vth rotis.
BTW Iam back to blogging..plz visit my space n if gets sum time check out my new FB page dear.Thanks in advance..
Maha
oh my god! i can so relate to this recipe, have been making channas since ages. it looks yum and the pic by pic recipe is such a good help!
Nice curry recipe, my curry recipe had dry coconut or then I make a dry version of this! Looks yummm , love the colour of the dish Kanan
I love this recipe. I love most kinds of beans/lentils and this one too.
Very luscious recipe with simple ingredients. Bookmarked dear.
This is looking so delicious and perfect with rice..
Very tempting and nutritious curry..Excellent dish.
Looks like a great recipe that I would like to try – I’ve never found black chickpeas locally so I’ll probably have to order some in 🙂
hey CJ. you can buy black chickpeas (Kala chana) online too.
how many person can be served in your recipe’s mentioned ingrediants
Look nice I will try today
Yeah looks really cool and tasty. I must try it once.