60 Reviews of Channa Masala

From: Chef #398522

On Dec 7, 2006

This is one of the best indian recipes on the internet. I call it, " my guaranteed crowd pleaser dish" since I serve it every time I have a potluck or guests. Everyone loves it. You just can't go wrong with this one, unless your guests dislike spicy foods. So in those cases, I would suggest you use half or a third of the spices recommended. Either way, this dish produces a wonderful blend of smells and flavors--sweet from the tomatoes, aromatic from the garlic and onions, a touch tangy from the lemon, and spicy from the cumin, cayenne and ginger. I highly recommend this.

From: R. Donaldson

On Apr 10, 2002

Awesome. Very easy to make! The best Channa Masala we have ever had. Although, I used a variation for the Amchoor and added extra tomato. It was the very best recipe that I have ever found. Variations: 1) We used Jared "home packed" tomatos and added 1 cup (16 Tablespoons, whole Roma chopped "no liquid" and strained into a measuring cup until all the extra juice was extracted "about 40 minutes") 2)1 cup of the strained tomato liquid was used instead of the water. Add extra liquid if required. Water or juice. Thank you for the best dish ever. Your friends in Canada.

From: KatieMG

On Jan 15, 2009

This was easy and quick to make, and quite tasty. I modified the recipe slightly based on some of the helpful reviews posted here. I used only a dash of salt, cut the cayenne pepper to 1/4 tsp (and it was still very hot!), left out the green chili pepper and replaced the tomatoes with one can of diced tomatoes, no salt added, drained. (I used the leftover tomato liquid to replace most of the 1 cup of water.) I used my potato masher to mash 1/3 of the food in the pot right before simmering for 45 minutes (mashing gave it a great consistency and the longer simmering time made the chick peas quite tender.) Served over rice for a healthy, easy, and tasty dish. BF loved it, including the heat. Thanks!

From: veggiepig

On Apr 23, 2007

This was delicious and easy to make. I didn't have any amchoor powder, so I added a little extra lemon juice for sourness. Definitely will make this again! Also, I read Mahur's Climbing the Mango Trees and she suggests grating the tomatoes to get an even consistency without having to deal with tomato skins. It works really well!

From: DulcineaDawn

On May 12, 2007

I made this the other day because I needed to use up some chick peas. This was very easy to make. I used dried chick peas that I had to soak and boil, but this recipie would be even easier using canned chick peas. The taste was great and was best when eaten with flat bread. I heated up two pitas by heating them up using a little olive oil so they were nice and pliant. I used ghee instead of the vegetable oil, which I think helped with the flavor. I also had no amchoor powder and simply increased the lemon as suggested. I also omitted the paprika and chili pepper and substituted some dried ground red pepper for the cayenne pepper.

From: Chef #222288

On Mar 31, 2007

I love this recipe! It is my favorite Indian dish. Great served with naan and some batsmati rice! THE BEST!

From: Bogey'sMom

On May 21, 2007

I substituted lemon for the amchoor powder, and cut the cayenne down to 1/4 t. - still plenty of heat for us. I served it over brown rice. Delicious.

From: Bubbah

On Jun 20, 2002

A great, tasty dish. This channa approximates the version I have had in a great Indian restaurant in San Francisco — though that one was little more saucy, which I prefered. Overall, a delightful recipe though — thanks!

From: Shakthi

On Jul 13, 2005

Very nice. Since I don't like it very sour and the recipe already called for amchoor I skipped the lime juice.

From: wowmarlene

On Oct 7, 2006

What a great recipe. Our local grocery store didn't carry fresh green chili pepper, so we substituted with mild chili powder. We purchased the garam masala and amchoor powder online. We also let the dish simmer covered at low heat for a while longer than suggested to let the sauce adhere more to the chickpeas. Very tasty, and even better the next day.