chana masala
My latest snap of cravings for Indian food hit a couple weeks ago, and because I haven’t learned anything over my two stints in the East Village, we ordered in from a restaurant on 6th Street and received puddles of oily, listless and weakly spiced curries that we dragged our way through only to be rewarded with bellyaches. Also, regret. I have I make several times a year, that I crave like clockwork as soon as we hit a cold snap and never disappoint, a cabinet full of robust rust and mustard-colored powders and seeds and yet I let someone else put lackluster chana masala in our bellies.
Estimated Nutrition (whole recipe, rough)
Counts 13 of 16 ingredients — the other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and contribute nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume — 13 portions →
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Chickpea | 1/2 cup canned (120g) drained | 134 |
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Tomato | 1 medium (123g) | 22 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Turmeric | 1 tsp ground (3g) | 9 |
| Chili | 1 tsp (2.7g) | 8 |
| Cumin | 1 tsp ground (2.1g) | 8 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Cayenne | 1 tsp (1.8g) | 6 |
| Garlic | 1 clove (3g) | 4 |
| Ginger | 1 tsp grated fresh (2g) | 2 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Coriander | not in our table | 0 |
| Seed | not in our table | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
Totals for the whole recipe, adding one typical portion per ingredient — listed above. Quantities in the recipe are not counted, so this is a rough guide only — not suitable for medical or dietary planning.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 medium onions, minced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
- 1 fresh, hot green chili pepper, minced
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (I used a quarter of this because my cayenne is extremely hot)
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground
- 1 tablespoon amchoor powder (see note)
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 2 cups tomatoes, chopped small or 1 15-ounce can of whole tomatoes with their juices, chopped small
- 2/3 cup water
- 4 cups cooked chickpeas or 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 lemon (juiced) (see note; I used a whole lemon to swap for the amchoor powder)