This vegan chana masala – or chickpea curry – is spicy, hearty, and comforting. Combining nutritious chickpeas and a flavourful base, it's a simple and healthy dish that's perfect with boiled rice or homemade pilau rice and vegan raita.
The rich tomato sauce is traditionally offset with tangy mango powder or dried pomegranate seeds, which I replace with some lemon juice. I also mash or blend the sauce before adding the chickpeas in order to make the curry thicker and smoother.
For similar levels of spice, check out these recipes for rajma masala, aloo palak, and chickpea biryani. If you fancy turning up the heat a little, give this tofu jalfrezi a try.
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Jump to:
- What is it? 🌶️
- Is it vegan? 🌿
- Why I love it 💚
- Test notes 📝
- Nutrition 🌱
- Chickpeas 🥫
- Ingredients 📋
- Step by step 📷
- To serve 🍽️
- FAQ ❓
- Variations 🔀
- More ideas 💡
- Recipe 👨🍳
What is chana masala?
Chana masala – literally 'chickpeas with mixed spices' – is a curry dish consisting of chickpeas, tomatoes, aromatics, and spices. It is arguably the most popular vegetarian dish in India and South Asia.
Featuring simple store-cupboard ingredients in the form of tins and dried spices, chana masala has become a staple in vegetarian and vegan cooking across the globe.
Is chana masala vegan?
Like many classic Indian dishes, chana masala is traditionally vegetarian but not vegan. This is due to the ghee (clarified butter) used, as well as any yoghurt or cream mixed into the sauce.
It's very easy to make chana masala vegan by simply using cooking oil (coconut or other), and then topping off with plant-based yoghurt or plant-based cream/crème fraiche. Same goes for dishes like this brinjal masala (aubergine curry).
Why you'll love this recipe
- It's low in fat and full of healthy nutrients
- The main ingredients are store-cupboard staples
- You can have it on the table in as little as 35-40 minutes
- It's a lot cheaper than takeaway curry (not to mention a lot less greasy)
Recipe testing notes
Lemon: Traditional recipes may use amchoor (mango powder) or anardana (dried pomegranate seeds) to add a sour, fruity flavour to the dish. In this recipe, the lemon juice does a similar job.
Pro-level spice: If you want to take things up a notch, temper some whole spices in the oil before adding the onion. To the hot oil, add a cinnamon stick, 3-4 cardamom pods, 3-4 cloves, and a teaspoon of cumin seeds. Heat for 30-60 seconds, being careful not to burn them, and then proceed with the rest of the recipe (you may want to use slightly less dried cumin and garam masala).
Blending vs. mashing: In the recipe steps, I suggest blending or mashing to achieve a smoother gravy before adding the chickpeas. If you have a hand blender, I'd definitely recommend this for convenience as you'll only need a few short pulses in the pan.
Is homemade chana masala healthy?
While curry from restaurants or takeaways is undoubtedly delicious, it’s often very high in fat since it’s cooked in copious amounts of oil or ghee (clarified butter).
By making chana masala at home, you'll have a version that's much lower in fat while delivering a tonne of healthy nutrients such as fibre, protein, vitamins, and minerals.
In one serving of this recipe, you'll find:
- Calories: 324 kcal
- Protein: 15 g (30% of RDA)
- Fibre: 14 grams (58% of RDA)
- Vitamin C: 45 mg (55% of RDA)
- Iron: 7 mg (39% of RDA)
Even if the curry includes coconut milk (like this sweet potato dal) or cashew cream (like this 30-minute black bean curry), making it at home is almost always the healthier option. 🌱
Tinned v dried chickpeas
This recipe calls for tinned chickpeas, but if you get the chance I'd highly recommend cooking dried chickpeas from scratch:
- They taste better than their tinned counterparts
- They are creamier inside but also have more of a bite
- You have full control over any additional flavours and textures
- They work out cheaper than tinned
- They’re easier to store in bulk
- They don’t contain additives, preservatives, or firming agents
You can cook chickpeas in bulk and then use them in various other recipes at home. Besides simple roasted chickpeas, my personal favourites include:
What you'll need
Like many curries, the key to a good chana masala lies in the spices you put in. Here's the full run-down of what you'll need for this recipe:
- Aromatics in the form of onion, garlic, ginger, and chilli
- Spices in the form of cumin, coriander, turmeric, chilli powder, bay leaves, and garam masala
- Tinned tomatoes and tomato paste to form the base
- Chickpeas as the star of the show
- Fresh coriander for a fragrant lift towards the end of cooking
- Lemon juice to add a citrus zing
How to make vegan chana masala
Heat the oil in a large pan on medium heat.
Add the onion and stir occasionally for 6-8 minutes, followed by the garlic, ginger, and chilli.
Cook for a couple of minutes.
Once those have softened, add the cumin, coriander, chilli powder, and turmeric and mix well.
After a couple of minutes, stir in the tomato paste, chopped tomatoes, bay leaves, and salt.
Cook for 5 minutes to allow the ingredients to blend together.
At this point, you have the option to thicken the curry and make it a little smoother.
Pulse a few times using a hand blender (temporarily removing the bay leaves and any other whole spices you might have added), or mash through the sauce using a potato masher.
If you removed any ingredients before blending, add these back to the pan.
Next, add in the drained chickpeas along with 100 ml of water. Stir well and cook for 10-15 minutes.
If you want to loosen the sauce, add a little more water.
After 10-15 minutes, stir in the garam masala, lemon juice, and chopped fresh coriander.
Cook for a couple of minutes, adjust the seasoning, and serve.
Serving suggestions
Nine times out of ten, I'm having this chana masala with simple boiled rice and a sprinkling of fresh coriander. Whenever I have a little more time, I'll make spiced pilau rice and top with the likes of vegan raita or a drizzle of homemade cashew cream.
Other suggestions for sides include cumin roasted cauliflower, vegan naan bread, aloo palak, poppadoms, mashed potatoes, and baked potato wedges.
Recipe FAQ
Tinned chickpeas are ready to eat since they're cooked during the canning process. If you want to cook dried chickpeas from scratch, ensure that these are fully cooked before adding here.
Feel free to add any other ingredients such as spinach, mixed peppers, or cooked potato cubes.
Simply add small amounts of extra water to loosen the sauce and adjust the seasoning as necessary.
Yes, this recipe is 100% gluten-free along with GF sides such as rice.
Refrigerate for up to four days, then simply reheat in the microwave or in a pan with a splash of water to loosen it up. Like many curries, this chana masala gets even better after a day or two in the fridge.
You can freeze chana masala in sealed containers or resealable bags for up to six months, making this a great meal to prepare in advance.
Variations and tips for vegan chana masala
- Tomatoes: If you don't have tinned tomatoes, you could replace these with approx. 10 whole fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped.
- Quantity: If you want to make this recipe stretch further, simply add an extra tin of tomatoes and/or chickpeas and adjust the seasoning to taste.
- Make it healthier: This recipe is already pretty healthy, but you can swap out the coconut oil if you want to really cut down on saturated fat.
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More vegan recipe ideas
If you liked this recipe, you might also enjoy:
You can also check out my full list of vegan curry recipes and vegan mains.
Full recipe
Easy Vegan Chana Masala (Chickpea Curry)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil (or other cooking oil)
- 2 medium onions, finely chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 inch piece of ginger, finely chopped
- 1-2 fresh chillies, finely sliced (more or less depending on how you like your heat)
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste (a.k.a. puree)
- 2x 14 oz (400 g) tins chopped tomatoes
- 2 dried bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon salt (plus more to taste)
- 2x 14 oz (400 g) tins chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- ½ cup (100 ml) water (plus more if necessary)
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- Juice of 1 lemon (optional)
- Large handful fresh coriander, chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pan on medium heat. Add the onion and stir occasionally for 6-8 minutes (or until soft and starting to turn golden).
- Next, add the finely chopped garlic, ginger, and chilli and cook for a couple of minutes.
- Once those have softened, add the cumin, coriander, chilli powder, and turmeric and mix well.
- After a couple of minutes, stir in the tomato paste, chopped tomatoes, bay leaves, and salt. Cook for 5 minutes to allow the ingredients to blend together.
- At this point, you have the option to thicken the curry and make it a little smoother. Pulse a few times using a hand blender (temporarily removing the bay leaves and any other whole spices you might have added), or mash through the sauce using a potato masher. If you removed any ingredients before blending, add these back to the pan.
- Next, add in the drained chickpeas along with ½ cup (100 ml) of water. Stir well and cook for 10-15 minutes. If you want to loosen the sauce, add a little more water.
- After 10-15 minutes, stir in the garam masala, lemon juice, and chopped fresh coriander. Cook for a couple of minutes, adjust the seasoning, and serve with boiled rice or pilau rice and vegan raita (see serving suggestions for more ideas).📸 See recipe steps >📖 Table of contents >
Notes
Nutrition
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Ruth Spackman
This is absolutely delicious! So tasty! I would like to try it with dried chickpeas, as you say they have better flavour and texture, but I am unsure what quantity I need to soak to get the 400 grams required. Or am I just being stupid - should I just soak 400 grams of dried? Can you help please?.
The Pesky Vegan
Hi there, thanks for your comment and apologies for the delay in replying. It's not a stupid question as there's definitely some maths involved! If you take a 400g tin of chickpeas, you'll actually have around 250g of chickpeas once the water in the tin has been drained away (and remember tinned chickpeas have already been cooked as part of the canning process). The general rule is that you'd need around 100g of dried chickpeas to get 250g of cooked chickpeas since they take on water and increase in size and weight during soaking/cooking. Note that this chana masala recipe calls for 2x 400g tins, which is actually 500g of chickpeas (2x 250g drained weight). For that amount, you'd want to pre-cook around 200g of dried chickpeas (but you can always make more and use them in other recipes). My post on how to cook dried chickpeas has a section explaining how to calculate this dried vs. cooked weight. Hope this helps!
Nicol
Our favourite curry recipe
The Pesky Vegan
High praise indeed, cheers!
Terri
I’ve just found you and really enjoyed your honest story to becoming Vegan 🌱
I had never made this recipe before as I thought it seemed too simple. Wowsers………. It’s simply amazing. I only added some fresh spinach. It will be a regular meal in my repertoire now 🥳
The Pesky Vegan
Thanks, everyone's journey will be slightly different but hoping that it's helpful to put my own story out there! Cheers for the review and glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Jayne
Great fast easy recipe and very tasty.
The Pesky Vegan
Cheers, glad you enjoyed it!
Ali von Moltke
easy to make and very delicious!! I added fresh spinach leaves at the end 🙂
The Pesky Vegan
Thanks Ali, glad you enjoyed it!
Shaun Doyle
I had lots of chickpeas left over from making Hummus so TPV sprang to mind, this recipe is very tasty and easy to make. I did add slightly more spices and garlic to the recipe and it was scrumptious.
Thanks Alistair
The Pesky Vegan
Glad you enjoyed and cheers for the review!
Elaine
Very tasty. When I served it to my husband he said - tastes just like Chana Masala!! Result.
The Pesky Vegan
Can't ask for much more from a chana masala recipe, thanks!
Vivien Haines
This Curry is the best we have ever tasted ..most delicious. I shall pass this one on.
The Pesky Vegan
Wow high praise indeed - thanks very much for taking the time to leave a review!
Behan
This is great. We live on a sailboat and it helps to have a stash of good meal options that can be prepared from long-term stores... the shelf stable pantry items we can draw on even if it's been some weeks since we could buy fresh produce. This is a winner in that category! Thanks Alistair.
The Pesky Vegan
Thanks for the review - great to hear I can help with meal inspiration all the way out at sea! Take care - Alistair
Nana
AMAZING! Needed a bit of salt, but other than that, making it again!
The Pesky Vegan
Great to hear you enjoyed it - thanks very much for the review!
Valente
J'ai adorée merci beaucoup pour cette recette.
The Pesky Vegan
Glad you enjoyed it - merci pour le commentaire!
Daniela
Thank you for this genius recipe, I loved it. I am doing this for the second time tomorow, can't wait!
The Pesky Vegan
Great to hear - thanks very much for the review!
Amber
Really tasty and warm curry! So simple and easy to make but packed full of flavour.
The Pesky Vegan
Cheers Amber!
Vicky
Really tasty - I love chickpeas in curry! Thank you TPV
The Pesky Vegan
Same here - thanks for the review!
Rhiannon
Great recipe. Nice and straightforward with tasty results, thanks!
The Pesky Vegan
Glad it went down well, thanks for leaving a review!
katie
This was really delicious and really easy to make - mmmmmmmm! Thanks so much 🙂
The Pesky Vegan
Great to hear it went down well, thanks Katie!
Cathy
Definitely trying this!! Sounds amazing of course! I have to get the spice garam masala because I don’t have that. Can’t wait! 😋
The Pesky Vegan
Thanks for leaving a comment Cathy! Garam masala is actually a spice blend that you could make yourself if you have the other spices - usually a mix of cumin, coriander, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and a few others.
Chris S
This is so tasty!! Will definitely scale it up next time to make it last longer.
The Pesky Vegan
Glad you enjoyed, cheers for commenting!