If you’re a big fan of healthy Indian curries, no doubt you will be familiar with the classic Chana Masala.
This delicious dish is served all over North India, and never fails to tantalize the tastebuds due to its aromatic, spicy tang.
Our 100%, WHOLE foods plant based and OIL FREE Chana Masala recipe is made with creamy chickpeas and all those wonderful Indian spices that will fill your home with the most tantilising smells.
This restaurant-style Chana Masala dish is perfect for all the family, and best of all, can be made in under 20 minutes. Make this fast and easy chickpea curry dish on busy weeknights when time is not on your side. It’s whole foods plant based diet friendly, healthy, oil free, and just really, really comforting.
This recipe is also one of our famous healthy, plant based meals that can be made in UNDER 30 MINUTES! Perfect for all you BUSY folk out there who have lives to live, but know in order to live well they need to be healthy.
Health Benefits Of Chana Masala
Of course, like most Indian foods, Chana Masala is brimming with health benefits, mostly due to all those powerful and antioxidant-rich spices and protein-rich chickpeas.
Some of the benefits of this dish include:-
Chickpeas
- Chickpeas are a high protein legume (about 14.5g per cup) that act as the ‘meat’ in this Vegan Chana Masala recipe.
- The creamy and ‘meaty’ chickpea is also a great source of vitamins and minerals, including manganese, folate, zinc, phosphorus, magnesium, thiamine, vitamin B6, selenium, and potassium. All of these nutrients makes chickpeas a great substitute for meat (in fact, a much better substitute because they are ANTI INFLAMMATORY, unlike animal products).
- Chickpeas could not be more INEXPENSIVE! Honestly, these peas are usually under 50p (around 70-80 cents in US money) to buy per can. And, they’re even CHEAPER if you want to soak and prepare your own from scratch (which isn’t even that difficult). Preparing your own legumes of all kinds also means you can make them more affordable if you wish to eat organic too (which we highly recommend when it comes to legumes).
- The chickpea’s high fibre content makes them a great weight loss food. You can eat chickpeas knowing their slow-release and slow-burning carbohydrates will keep you full for hours, hence preventing you from snacking on unhealthy foods. And their high fibre content also makes them good for your gut health and blood sugar.
- This POWERHOUSE legume may also help to protect you from certain chronic diseases (such as heart disease) due to their high potassium and magnesium content. They’re also helpful in the prevention of type-2 diabetes, due to their high protein and fibre content. Of course, you would need to eat chickpeas regularly, and alongside a generally healthy diet, to gain such benefits.
Array Of Spices
Almost all spices are a magnificent source of antioxidants, anti inflammatory compounds, and nutrients.
Interestingly, many spices are weight loss friendly and help you to burn fat via various channels, including speeding up metabolism, reducing hunger, and balancing blood sugar.
Check out our amazing, fat burning spice mix that you can make at home from store cupboard ingredients, and see if you too can get some of the fat burning benefits of spices.
The spices in your Chana Masala and general Garam Masala mix that you will be using in your Chana Masala chickpea dish are usually a mix of:-
- Mustard seeds
- Caraway
- Fenugreek
- Fennel
- Bay leaf
- Clove
- Nutmeg
- Coriander
- Cardamon
- Black cumin
- Cumin seeds
- White pepper
- Star anise
- Mace
- Cinnamon
- Turmeric
- Ginger
- Coriander
- Garlic
Other benefits of these spices include:-
- The anti inflammatory affects of almost ALL spices help to relieve pain and inflammatory-type diseases in the body when eaten regularly.
- Spices are high in anti-aging antioxidants that help to neutralise free-radical damage in the body, thus slowing down the aging process on both the inside and out. Try our immense collagen building fruit smoothie for more anti aging benefits.
- The spices in your Chana Masala recipe, especially cumin and ginger, act as a wonderful digestive aid that helps prevent bloating and gas.
- Adding spices to your food daily may help boost your immune system due to their immune boosting properties.
- Spices such as turmeric are literal superfoods that have a whole host of health benefits, but are also good for cognitive function and keeping your brain in good working order.
- As mentioned before, nearly all spices are great for weight loss, and make a noticeable difference when used daily and over time. Every little helps!
OIL-FREE Chana Masala Recipe With Creamy Chickpeas
Equipment
- Chopping board
- Chopping knife
- large, non stick pan
- Kettle of hot water
Ingredients
- 2 cans chickpeas semi-drained (leave approximately half the juice in the can).
- 1 can crushed tomatoes
- 1 white or yellow onion finely chopped
- 6 cloves garlic crushed
- Thumb-size piece fresh ginger root grated or very finely chopped
- 1 large handful fresh coriander chopped
- fresh chili to taste finely chopped
- 2-3 tsp coconut or brown sugar
- ½ cup veggie stock
- ½ squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp Garam Masala
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Hot water for splashing as we will not be using oil.
Instructions
- Start by heating up a non-stick saucepan and chopping your onion really finely. Add to your pre-heated pan, along with your crushed garlic and saute down until translucent. You will need a high heat!Allow a little browning before adding splashed of hot water to prevent too much sticking and burning. The idea of sauteing WITHOUT oils is to make sure you have a kettle of hot water ready to splash into the pan when things get sticky. But, do not be afraid of it sticking a little as this helps with the caramelisation process.Add your grated, fresh ginger half way through the frying of the onions and garlic.
- Next add all spices and dry fry for one minute, stirring continuously, to bring out those lovely aromatic flavours.
- Now add the rest of your ingredients (apart from the veggie stock, sugar, and fresh coriander), along with your partially drained chickpeas and stir. Bring to a simmer and make your own mind up about whether you need your veggie stock, or partially need your veggies stock. This will be dependent on how many fluids you had in your chickpeas and left from your sauteing. You may also have a preference to the texture you prefer in your Chana Masala.
- Once everything is heated through, add a little of your sugar and salt and taste it to see how much you need. If you make this dish extra spicy, you may need more sugar to balance the spices.
- Simmer for 10-15 minutes until everything is softened and infused.
- Finally, check your flavours once again. Add more chili, fluids, or sugar to taste and to balance your flavours out if need be.
- Before serving, add your fresh corinader and lemon juice.
- Serve with more fresh coriander, brown rice, quinoa, or roast/air-fried potatoes.
Video
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