Recipe for restaurant style chana masala made with home made chana masala spice powder from scratch. Recipe with video.
This is an easy and delicious recipe that works perfectly for a weeknight dinner or for feeding a crowd at a party. The recipe can be easily doubled or tripled.
I make the spice masala powder in advance and store it in the freezer. The masala powder stays fresh for months if stored in the freezer. I make a big batch of the powder and store it so I always have a stash ready to go whenever I need it.
The ingredients that we do not use in a typical South Indian kitchen are black cardamom, amchur powder and kasuri methi. Amchur powder is dry mango powder. Kasuri Methi is nothing but dried fenugreek leaves powder. These ingredients give the North Indian style chana masala a unique taste and is very much required for making this recipe. Kashmiri red chilli powder gives this dish a bright dark red colour. A heavy duty mixie / blender is preferred for grinding the spice powder and the Indian style mixie works best. A coffee grinder can also be used.
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Here is the video of how to make Restaurant Style Chana Masala
Ingredients for making Chana Masala Powder
1 small piece cinnamon 2 cardamom 1 black cardamom 4 cloves 1 tablespoon coriander seeds 1 teaspoon cumin seeds 1 teaspoon fennel seeds 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1/2 teaspoon kasuri methi 2 teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder 1 teaspoon turmeric powder 1/2 teaspoon amchur powder
Other Ingredients
3 tablespoon peanut oil 1 bay leaf 1.5 cup onions, finely chopped 2 green chillies, slit 2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste 2 tablespoon coriander leaves, chopped 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon sugar 5 tomatoes, ground to a puree 500 ml water 1 cup dry chickpea
For making the spice powder
Dry roast cinnamon, black cardamom, cloves, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds and black pepper on a low flame till the spices are fragrant. Switch off the flame and add in the kasuri methi, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and amchur powder. Saute for a few seconds on the residual heat from the pan. Set aside this mixture to cool.
Once the mixture is cool, grind to a fine powder. Set aside. This powder can be stored in the freezer for months and will stay fresh. The spice powder recipe can be easily doubled or tripled accordingly.
For making chana masala
Soak the dry chickpeas in water overnight. Drain the water once the chickpeas are well soaked. Set aside.
Heat oil in a pressure cooker. I have used a 5 liter pressure cooker for making this recipe today. Add in a bay leaf. Add in finely chopped onions and saute till the onions are light brown in colour.
Add in the green chillies, ginger garlic paste and coriander leaves. Saute for a couple of minutes. Add in the prepared spice powder. Add all of it. Add in the salt. Add in a little sugar to balance the flavours. Saute for a few seconds.
Grind 5 tomatoes in a mixie to a puree. Add the puree to the pan. Make sure to use ripe tomatoes as ripe tomatoes always taste better in chana masala gravy. Mix well to combine. Add in about 500 ml water.
Add in the soaked and drained chickpea. Mix well. Cover the pressure cooker and add the whistle on. Wait for the first whistle. After the first whistle, reduce the flame of the stove to low / sim and let the chana masala cook for 30 minutes. Ignore the number of whistles. After 30 minutes, remove the cooker from heat and wait for the pressure to settle naturally.
Open the cooker and mix well. Restaurant style chana masala is ready. Serve with rice or roti.
- Author: Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 15m
- Cook Time: 45m
Ingredients for making Chana Masala Powder
1 small piece cinnamon 2 cardamom 1 black cardamom 4 cloves 1 tablespoon coriander seeds 1 teaspoon cumin seeds 1 teaspoon fennel seeds 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1/2 teaspoon kasuri methi 2 teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder 1 teaspoon turmeric powder 1/2 teaspoon amchur powder
Other Ingredients
3 tablespoon peanut oil 1 bay leaf 1.5 cup onions, finely chopped 2 green chillies, slit 2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste 2 tablespoon coriander leaves, chopped 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon sugar 5 tomatoes, ground to a puree 500 ml water 1 cup dry chickpea
For making the spice powder
Dry roast cinnamon, black cardamom, cloves, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds and black pepper on a low flame till the spices are fragrant. Switch off the flame and add in the kasuri methi, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and amchur powder. Saute for a few seconds on the residual heat from the pan. Set aside this mixture to cool.
Once the mixture is cool, grind to a fine powder. Set aside. This powder can be stored in the freezer for months and will stay fresh. The spice powder recipe can be easily doubled or tripled accordingly.
For making chana masala
Soak the dry chickpeas in water overnight. Drain the water once the chickpeas are well soaked. Set aside.
Heat oil in a pressure cooker. I have used a 5 liter pressure cooker for making this recipe today. Add in a bay leaf. Add in finely chopped onions and saute till the onions are light brown in colour.
Add in the green chillies, ginger garlic paste and coriander leaves. Saute for a couple of minutes. Add in the prepared spice powder. Add all of it. Add in the salt. Add in a little sugar to balance the flavours. Saute for a few seconds.
Grind 5 tomatoes in a mixie to a puree. Add the puree to the pan. Make sure to use ripe tomatoes as ripe tomatoes always taste better in chana masala gravy. Mix well to combine. Add in about 500 ml water.
Add in the soaked and drained chickpea. Mix well. Cover the pressure cooker and add the whistle on. Wait for the first whistle. After the first whistle, reduce the flame of the stove to low / sim and let the chana masala cook for 30 minutes. Ignore the number of whistles. After 30 minutes, remove the cooker from heat and wait for the pressure to settle naturally.
Open the cooker and mix well. Restaurant style chana masala is ready. Serve with rice or roti.
- Author: Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 15m
- Cook Time: 45m
Find it online : https://www.kannammacooks.com/restaurant-style-chana-masala/
Recipe for everyday rasam and potato roast served with rice. Bachelor friendly recipe.
Rasam Saadham / Rasam Rice and Urulai Kara Kari / Potato Roast is a favorite in many South Indian households. Here is a very bachelor friendly recipe that can be put together in less than 30 minutes with ingredients that are found in everyday kitchen.
For the rasam rice, a paste is ground and boiled with spices. A final tempering of ghee is added to the recipe. If you do not want to do the tempering with ghee, vegetable oil can also be used.
Potato Kara Kari – The first time I tried this potato kara kari, it was serendipity. I have never used besan (kadalai maavu) in potato fry I do at home until recently. The additional touch of besan gives the potato fry a new dimension that I have come to call as the “aloo bonda-ish” flavor that’s mind blowing.
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Here is the video of how to make Everyday Tomato Rasam and Potato Roast
Recipe 1 – Everyday Tomato Rasam Recipe
For Rasam Paste
1 teaspoon black pepper 1 teaspoon cumin seeds 1 dried gundu chilli 4 cloves garlic with skin 1 gooseberry size tamarind soaked in water 3 ripe tomatoes 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder 1 teaspoon rock salt 1/2 teaspoon jaggery 2 cups water 2 tablespoon coriander leaves, roughly chopped
Tempering Ingredients
2 teaspoon ghee 1/2 teaspoon split urad dal 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds 3 dried gundu chillies 2 sprig curry leaves 1/4 teaspoon asafoetida
Recipe 2 – Urulai Kara Kari Recipe
For Steaming Potatoes
4 potatoes, peeled and diced 1 teaspoon sambar powder 1 teaspoon chilli powder 2 sprigs curry leaves 3/4 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoon besan (kadalai maavu)
Other Ingredients
2 tablespoon peanut oil 1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds
Everyday Rasam
Soak the tamarind in 1/4 cup water for about 10 minutes. Set aside. Add in the black pepper, cumin seeds, gundu chilli, garlic cloves, soaked tamarind along with the water and tomatoes. Grind to a paste. Add the ground paste to a pot. Add in the turmeric powder, rock salt, jaggery and water. Let it come to a boil. The rasam will foam up. At this stage, make a tempering. Add ghee to a small tadka pan and let it slightly heat up. Add in the urad dal, mustard seeds, chillies and the curry leaves. Let the mustard seeds crackle. Add in the asafoetida. Let the asafoetida warm up for a few seconds. Add the tempering to the rasam. Add in the coriander leaves. Switch off the flame and cover the pot with a lid and let the rasam rest for 15 minutes.
Urulai Kara Kari Recipe
Wash and peel the potatoes. Dice the potatoes to small pieces. Mix the potatoes with sambar powder, chilli powder, curry leaves, salt and besan. Mix well to combine. Set aside. I like to cook the potatoes in a pressure cooker using the pot in pot method. Take a pressure cooker and add half a cup of water to the cooker. Place the potato bowl in the cooker and cover with a lid. Cook on a medium flame for 4 whistles. Remove from heat and wait for the pressure to settle naturally. The potatoes usually cooks in 2-3 whistles but we are cooking for 4 whistles as we are cooking using the pot in pot method. Remember that we did not add any water to the potato bowl. The potato cooks perfectly in this method. Take a pan, preferably non-stick and add a tablespoon of oil to the pan. Heat the oil and add in the mustard seeds. Let the mustard seeds splutter. Add in the cooked potato mixture to the pan. Toss the potatoes for 10 minutes until well roasted. Serve hot!
- Author: Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 5m
- Cook Time: 25m
