Yet another flavourful Indian dish – Choley Masala features chickpeas simmered in a onion-tomato based gravy. Spices you up from the inside out.
An Indian aunty I know from church, Aunty Margrat, was so kind to send me some of her homemade spices; namely garam masala, turmeric, cumin and coriander powder. She also gave me her choley masala recipe, and of course I had to make it!
This was my first time having choley masala, and it was so so delicious. You might be more familiar with chana masala, which is almost the same thing. Chana is actually the black kind of chickpea, whereas choley is the type you’ll find both dried and in cans.
This dish features chickpeas in a really flavourful onion-tomato based gravy. It’s perfect over rice, though Aunty Margrat says her family often has this with chapati and poori.
The Story Behind this Choley Masala
Actually uncle and I met online, we started liking each other and fell in love. He was in Delhi with Delhi church in full time ministry. So he is North Indian and I am a Malaysian South Indian. I grew up with South Indian and Malaysian food, whereas he grew up with capati, paratha and so on…. When we got married, we had to take time to understand each other’s preferred food.
One day, he took me to a North Indian grocery store in Brickfields and said “Look, there are so many colours of dal which i grew up with…”
Hahaha… that opened my eyes to see that my ‘cooking world’ had to extend. So I started to learn how to cook (the food my husband grew up eating). My capati in those days were like papadom, so crispy yet hard!! He would teach me to make them soft. Also, my mother-in-law gave me a lot of tips on how to make soft capatis and how to cook uncle’s favourite food.
That’s how it started. So if you come to my house on any day, my pantry is full of colours and aroma… because I learned to enjoy them and my kids also (enjoy them). I am grateful my kids don’t look for meat and (they) don’t complain. They enjoy everything I make!
– Aunty Margrat
More Indian-Malaysian recipes to try:
If you made this recipe, do leave a comment and rating below because I love hearing your feedback. Make sure to tag me on Instagram @eatwkriss so that I can see your recreations!
Choley Masala
Ingredients
- 300 g chickpeas cooked
Paste
- 2 medium yellow onions chopped
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 inch ginger
- 1 cili padi (bird's eye chili) optional
- 1 tomato
Spices
- ½ tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp coriander powder
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- ½ tsp garam masala
- ½ tsp asafoetida optional, but highly recommended
- salt to taste
Instructions
- In a food processor, blend together onion, garlic, ginger and cili padi (if using) to get a paste. Blend the tomato separately, and set both aside.
- Add oil to a large wok/pan, add in onion paste and cook on low heat for 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook another 2 minutes.
- Add in all the spices and cook for 2 minutes, then add in the chickpeas. Add water and salt to taste. Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes.
- Let sit for at least 30 minutes before serving with chapati, rice and raw onions for an extra kick.
Notes
- You can make the gravy thicker by adding lesser water and vice versa.
- Soak chickpeas overnight.
- Cook soaked chickpeas in salted water until soft.
Hi!! Thank you so much for this recipe!! It was sooooo good!! 💛💛
no worries, i’m glad you liked it!