Indian-Spiced Chickpea Curry (Chana Masala) is an uncomplicated, unpretentious, and completely satisfying vegan dish of chickpeas cooked until meltingly tender in an aromatic tomato-based sauce redolent with garlic, ginger, and exotic spices.
I still remember the first Indian meal I ever had. I was a freshman at college and I was a little skeptical, mostly because I thought I didn’t like spicy food. But honestly, back then I didn’t really understand the difference between a well-spiced dish vs a spicy-hot dish. I was about to get schooled.
I had my first bite – my friend recommended Chicken Tikka Masala – and I was hooked. My mouth erupted in an explosion of flavor. The spices were assertive, but not overpowering; the sauce was enticingly creamy with a slight tang; the basmati was nutty and fragrant. My friend passed me a small dish of minted yogurt with cucumber and it cooled my mouth. It was a completely unforgettable experience.
Needless to say, after the first time I was completely smitten with Indian flavors. My friends and I hit up a local Indian restaurant regularly after that (there is a big Indian population in the town where I went to college and so we had a lot of restaurant options!), and we even cooked a few Indian dishes in our tiny dorm kitchen. It became almost like a Sunday supper family event for us, and to this day when I go out for Indian or cook it at home, I can’t help but smile as my mind goes back to my college days and good times shared with great friends over Indian food. Friends truly are the family we get to choose.
When Lagostina (a global leader in innovative, stylish, high performance cookware) reached out to me asking if I was interested in participating in their “Favorite Regional Family Recipes” campaign and told me to get creative, my mind immediately went back to those “family” meals during college! I must have watched my friend make Chana Masala at least ten times; not only was it one of our favorites, but it is also easy and economical – for a college student, what’s not to love?
Here I used canned chickpeas to help this dish come together quicker, and the flavor definitely doesn’t suffer for it. Of course if you prefer, you can use dried chickpeas; soak them overnight and then cook them until tender before proceeding with the recipe below. For the end result, the chickpeas in this dish should be very tender.
If you’re not familiar with this dish, it’s a vegan chickpea curry; with onion, garlic, ginger, chile pepper, garam masala mix, and a couple other spices; the slow-cooked sauce is full of complex, deep flavor. You can control the level of spicy heat by adding more or less chile pepper. The dish is brightened up with a squeeze of fresh lemon and a sprinkle of fresh cilantro at the end. You can eat this curry with basmati rice or Indian flatbread, but I went with quinoa, which was quite satisfying, and a good way to bump up the nutrition.
If you’re looking for Indian comfort food, this is it!
- ¼ cup (60 ml) neutral-flavored oil, such as avocado or grapeseed
- 2 medium yellow onions, finely diced
- 6 large cloves garlic, minced or crushed
- 1 tablespoon fresh-grated ginger
- 1-3 serrano chiles, de-seeded and minced (or you can substitute with jalapenos; use more or less depending on preferred spice level)
- 2 teaspoons garam masala spice mix
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 (14.5 oz/411 g) cans no-salt-added diced tomatoes, with juices
- 2 (15 oz/425 g) cans no-salt-added chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 2 cups (475 ml) water
- Fresh cilantro, for garnish
- Fresh lemon wedges, for squeezing on top
- Cooked basmati rice or quinoa
- Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a deep-sided 5-quart casserole. Add the onion and cook until tender and starting to caramelize, about 4 to 6 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the garlic, ginger, chile, garam masala, coriander, cumin seeds, turmeric, salt, and black pepper, and cook 1 minute more, stirring constantly.
- Stir in the diced tomatoes, chickpeas, and water, and bring to a boil. Cover the skillet, turn the heat down to simmer, and cook until the sauce is thickened, about 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. (If need be, you can remove the lid toward the end of cooking to help it thicken faster, but stay with it and stir frequently.)
- Serve with fresh cilantro and lemon, along with prepared basmati rice or quinoa.
: : GIVEAWAY : :
I made this recipe in the Lagostina Nera Hard Anodized 5-Quart Casserole, and I am happy say that it’s a dream to work with. It has a hard anodized construction with thick 3.5mm base for even heat distribution. It’s non-stick, which makes it easy to cook and clean, and it’s also dishwasher safe and oven and broiler safe to 500F. It’s such a pretty dish with its polished hammered stainless steel lid. Plus it has a lifetime warranty! It retails for $49.99 and can be purchased on Macys.com.
I am thrilled because Lagostina is kindly providing a Nera Hard Anodized 5-Quart Casserole for one lucky giveaway winner!
To participate in this giveaway, just leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite family recipe.
For extra entries, you can do any of the following (please leave a separate comment for each so they can be counted as additional entries):
- Tell me about your least favorite meal! I mean the thing you absolutely hated growing up or still don’t like as an adult. (For me, it was sauerkraut with sausage! I hated the smell of sauerkraut so much I couldn’t gag it down; I love it now though, lol!)
- Like An Edible Mosaic on Facebook.
- Like Lagostina USA on Facebook.
- Like Macy’s on Facebook.
- Share this giveaway on the social media channel of your choice and include the hashtags #FavoriteFamilyRecipe, #LagostinaUSA, and #Macys.
You do not need to have a blog to enter this giveaway. To enter, you must be at least 18 years old. For shipping purposes, this giveaway is only open to U.S. residents and we are not able to ship to P.O. boxes. This giveaway ends on March 27, 2017 at 11:59 PM EST. Once the giveaway ends, the winner will be randomly chosen and notified via email. The winner will have three business days to respond with his or her mailing information, otherwise a new winner will be randomly chosen. Good luck to all!
Disclosure: Lagostina provided me with a Lagostina Nera Hard Anodized 5-Quart Casserole as well as compensation for my time, and they are providing the casserole for this giveaway; as always, opinions stated are my own.
I’m Faith Gorsky, the writer, cook, and photographer behind An Edible Mosaic. My goal is to inspire you to get in the kitchen and try something new! Feel free to 
My favorite family meal growing up would definitely be my mom’s Friday night bean dip. It was made of refried beans, ground sausage, cheese, onions, and salsa. So simply but so good. We’d eat it with tortilla chips and all the raw veggies. I thought of this as a treat, and my mom must have been laughing inside at how easily she got us all to eat our veggies without complaining.
This was also the one night of the week, my mom would put down a board in the front of the tv and we’d eat picnic style while watching a movie together (the other 6 nights we had a proper sit down meal at the dining room table).
I had to laugh while thinking of my least favorite meal. There is one meal that without fail can cause me to gag…. pork n’beans out of the can. It was also the one meal that my mom finally threw in the towel and stopped forcing me to eat. Any meal even remotely close to this churns my stomach including the whole range of Bush’s baked beans. Blech.
Lima beans would be a very close second.
my favorite family meal is lasagna–i still make it the way my mom taught me!
Hard to choose a favorite family recipe, but I have been craving my mom’s stroganoff recently!
Not really a meal, but my least favorite food of all time is okra. I have tried to eat it in pretty much any way it can be prepared and they all make me gag.
Simply stunning recipe and lovely post dear! I seriously can’t wait to try this dish as there is a lack of Indian food in this small town and I have to make my own. Chickpeas hear I come!
My favorite family recipe is my moms famous stuffed mushrooms recipe and my MIL’s spicy corn dish. Both are regulars in our home :)
My least favorite meal was black bean tacos when I was kid, now I love it.
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This is putting me in the mood for Indian and this dish would do nicely! Thanks Faith, it’s beautiful.
It’s tough to find one dish that my whole family likes, since I’m the only vegan and my sister hates all vegetables. What we can agree on, though, is the classic tofu stir fry with rice. It’s the meal I always ask for whenever I visit now!
I was pretty spoiled as a kid so my parents would rarely make food that I didn’t want to eat, but my least favorite was (honestly!) the Thanksgiving turkey. There was just never anything appealing about that dry, bland hunk of meat.
And, finally, I already “liked” you on Facebook. :)
Well, the food growing up was pretty terrible, so it’s hard to pick a favorite – I guess my mom managed to make edible french toast a few times, so I guess that’s my favorite
Least favorite is also hard, because everything was so bad. How about brisket cooked with lipton soup mix and diet cherry soda? Not something I looked forward to
My favorite family recipe is my Mom’s vegetable beef soup. Although I don’t eat much meat now, she makes a great batch of soup. She also used soup bones in her soup.
My least favorite meal as a child was liver and onions. I haven’t eaten it as an adult, but I’m pretty sure I still wouldn’t like it.
My favorite meal growing up was chicken and dumplings. Well, pretty much any comfort food…macaroni & cheese, meatloaf, etc..
My families favorite meal is Cincinnati Chili. Every time I make it I have to increase the amount because they all are healthy eaters plus they want take out for lunch the next day :-).
Our favorite family meal is steak, mashed potatoes and peas.
Most of the food I was fed growing up was not something I looked forward to. But my least favorite was anything served with sauerkraut.
My favorite family recipe is cucumber avocado salad. It’s so good!
I hated brussel sprouts when I was a kid. Now, I can’t get enough of them though lol. Roast them up with bacon and onions and I’m there!
I like Edible Mosaic on Facebook. (Brenda Haines)
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I like Macy’s on Facebook. (Brenda Haines)
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my mom’s potato salad
I do not like beef stroganoff
I like you on facebook
I like Lagostina on facebook
https://twitter.com/sweetums82/status/844213101838946305
As a kid I hated lasagna and most tomato based pasta dishes, but I eat them regularly now.
My favorite is my mother’s lasagna, I make it the way she taught me years ago
I love my family’s Gameday Chili!
My favorite meal is Pizza. I’m a cheap date.
my least favorite meal was anything with sweet potatoes as a kid. The smell would make me gag and I would spend a good portion of Thanksgiving outside to avoid the smell. I love them now, of course!
I liked you on FB
I like Lagostina on FB!
o my god my mom would fixed homeny o my god my family was the type eat everything off your plate so id figured i could put it in napkins and hide it thank god im not like that woo but ya and thats it but my fav food is chicken spaggetti
sorry that was an extra comment above my family fave is chicken king ranch o my they love it
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What a gorgeous recipe. I can only imagine how wonderful the house smells while this is going on in the kitchen!
A favorite family recipe in our home is leftover chicken (or turkey) in a cream sauce that always includes sautéed onions and may include whatever else is on hand–broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, peas, pretty much anything. I particularly love it flavored with a little thyme or tarragon. It’s best served over brown rice, but it’s also good over any other kind of rice, too, or pasta, or even toast, in a pinch. And if the cream sauce is made with the leftover juice from the chicken, it’s sublime!
My least favorite meal, both as a kid and now as an adult, is anything that has come within three feet of mustard. Ewww. Just the smell makes me gag. I’m sure I eat it occasionally if someone has made something like baked beans where the flavor is subsumed into the overall dish, but if at all possible I keep that frightful yellow stuff at arm’s length (or in another room, or better yet, in another house).
It’s been years since I originally “liked” you (An Edible Mosaic) on Facebook, as Anne Other, and I still do! :-)
I like Lagostina USA on Facebook, but I think I’d like them better in my kitchen. :-)
I also like Macy’s on Facebook.
I shared your lovely recipe and the Lagostina giveaway on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/NotherAnneOther/status/844946023122374656
Thank you!
my family loves the chicken cordon bleu casserole that I make.
Growing up I hated swedish meatballs and goulash. My mom didn’t believe in spices so her food was very bland. We were not allowed to leave the table until we finished our plates. i have awful memories of sitting at the kitchen table long after everyone else was done with dinner. I still do not like either one of these foods.
I liked an edible mosiac on facebook Nancy Loring
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french peas!
My great aunt always made a wilted lettuce salad with mayonnaise and bananas for holiday meals. It sounds so disgusting, I sometimes can’t believe it was a real dish! Someone must have eaten it back then, but it wasn’t me!
This looks absolutely gorgeous, and so warming and nourishing, Faith. :-)
texas chili
This is truly stunning. I love your photos.
That pan is gorgeous. I adore their products. I have to admit I hated turnip as a kid and still can’t stomach it as an adult. My sister told us if we held our noses you wouldn’t be able to taste it. Doesn’t work. Ha.
I do not like beef stroganoff.
Our family favorite is gumbo, either seafood gumbo or chicken and andouille sausage gumbo.
My least favorite dishes are cooked okra and raw oysters …the slime factor in both is very off-putting to me.
I shared on G+ – https://plus.google.com/106220850995391731255/posts/QqEogkVsM79
I am one of your FB followers.
I follow Lagostina on FB.
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I never liked the butternut squash my mom made. The brown sugar sauce was good, but the mushy mess was no bueno,
I like an edible mosaic on fb
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i like macys on fb
My favorite family recipe is my dad’s pancakes!
My least favorite meal is shrimp… the texture made me gag as a kid, and as much as I want to be an adult about it now, I simple CAN’T. Ugh!
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