Your site is becoming more like food pr0n every day! That looks delicious!

Cheers Vicky! Very easy to make too - try it sometime.

The Channa Masala Curry that we get at the local Chaat shops just tastes amazing, better than the home-made ones.
Hey - did u catch the last journey of the Concorde - Sunday (4th) nite??? It got a mention on the BBC - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3597301.stm . It went on the A30 and A4 while being transported to the barge.

Hi Sat - I would have to agree with you re the Chaat shops - it always tastes better for some reason when you get it from places like that - not sure why though!

Oh - and I didn’t really follow the final Concorde journey via the A30 and the A4. I‘m guessing that the plane was being transported to the place of its birth at Filton near Bristol. Which is funny - because I’m going to be in near Bristol on business tomorrow! No - I can’t say I’m a real fan of Concorde - but I did film the last commercial flights of three Concordes coming in to land at Heathrow from my vantage point on Hammersmith Bridge last October. I did a little “sad” pop video of one of them as it flew by - which has had a tremendous number of downloads from Concorde fans all over the world. You can see it (if you haven’t already seen it) at http://www.jag.me.uk - and click through to Audio-Video section.

Great recipe… I make a lot of chana masala at my place, and after months of gradually increasing the complexity of the recipe, I realized that an uncomplicated, unhurried preparation (like this one) is really the ideal.

That said, I could not do without a pinch of asafoetida powder, a bay leaf, 0.5-1 tsp of fenugreek seed, 1 tsp of brown mustard seed, a chopped green chili, and… A dash of tomato ketchup

Hi Rob - I, too, have some other “personal” touches to every dish - for example - I always “finish” off the dish with some sprinkling of fresh finely chopped onion, some chunks of tomato - and some chopped green chillie too. Your “extras” are excellent - and it’s great to trade these tips - infinity of pleasures!

Well - I decided to attempt this dish. I love Indian food and eat it frequently though, I am never the one who cooks it so this was new territory for me. I was quite pleased with the results even though I didn’t have the chopped, fresh coriander leaf for a finishing touch.

After doing a little research on the web, I decided to make bhaturas (how is that pronounced??) to serve with it. It was a lovely and very filling meal — kind of flies in the face of the low carb craze this side of the pond. My husband took a few pictures that I can post links to if you are interested. Thanks so much for the recipe!

Maisha

Hi Maisha: glad you tried it out! You would be really surprised how much of a diff the chopped coriander makes you know - and it applies to almost every North Indian dish - once you use it - you will not be able to live without it!

You are very brave in trying out bhaturas! (the “bhat” but it pronounced as in “butt” - and the “uras” is like “ooraz” - where the “oo” bit is as in “tool”)

I guess you must have learned this - but last time I tried making bhaturas - the trick is to ensure that the oil is hot enough so that the dough does not get a chance to absorb too much oil - and ends up having a very fluffy inside.

Oh - and low-carb is all the rage over here in UK as well! But these things come and go I suppose! Life’s too short to worry about diets - I say: eat well, get plenty of exercise and have fun!

Please do put up the pics!

Oh - and if you ever do make it over to London - you must try to eat out at one of my favourite “non-glam” Indian restuarants: it’s called Sagar - and it’s in Hammersmith in West London - it’s vegetarian South Indian - but the bhaturas that they serve with their channa masala are abaolutely amazing - they are HUGE! Well worth experiencing:
http://london.openguides.org/index.cgi?Sagar,_W6_9JT

Next time I will be sure the add the coriander leaf!

Thanks for the tips on pronounciation. I think I did a good job on the bhatura, at least for a first timer. I watched a little video online demostrating how to fry them that helped quite a bit.

I might come to London next summer with my sister — is we actuall do make there I will be sure to check out the eatery you mentioned.

Mahalo (thanks you in Hawaiian)

Maisha

here’s the link to the pictures :)

http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/the_earth_guide/album?.dir=/91bd&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/the_earth_guide/my_photos

aloha

Maisha

Hi Maisha: excellent! I just checked them out - I hope the channa-masala and bhatura tasted as good as they look in those pictures!

Just tried this recipe - it’s very nice indeed! I make quite a lot of miscellaneous curry-type dishes, but I’d not managed to make a channa-based dish that I didn’t get bored of halfway through eating - thanks for providing me with a recipe which I enjoyed right to the end! (although I’m not sure if one person is supposed to eat an entire tin of chick peas themselves in one sitting; I’m feeling quite full now :)

Incidentally, on the subject of recipe variations as above, I find that often sticking a desertspoon of tamarind paste in an otherwise bland dish can liven it up very nicely; it adds an interesting, full but slightly sour flavour. Using it as a substitute for lemon juice can yield interesting results, too.

Chris: Thanks for your comment - and good on you that you gave it a go and enjoyed it! Well if it tastes good - I always find that you can eat a lot more than would normally seem right - but as my mum used to say: that’s not a problem - you just eat us much as you want!

You’re absolutely right re the effect of adding tamarind (imli) - and this is especially perfect with channa-masala. You might know that imli with channa-masala takes it very close to being a “chaat” style dish - which is a very popular North Indian “street” food dish (sweet and sour style) - especially when served with broken-up samosa and plain yoghurt garnish. Heavenly.

do you have any good lentil recipes??

i made this recipe and i found that it is more watery than other channa masala that i have tasted, and i even added less water than you suggested in your recipe. how can i make this a thicker dish? also, what amount of each seed should be added in.. i couldnt find an exact amount.. i think i endd up putting in about 1 teaspoon of each seed.

Hi Raven: many thanks for your comment. You can make it thicker by letting the water evaporate by simmering for longer. But I always find that a more effective method of thickening is to crush a few of the potato chunks in the pot using a spoon whilst it’s simmering. This will thicken the mixture quickly.

You asked about amount of seed - which seeds do you refer to? Basically - you have to make this dish several times - experimenting with different amounts of spice until you get it right and to your taste.

Very good presentation. Thanks

Thanks Rahamathulla!

hi

thanks for channa masala recipe.i tried this one last evening for a get-together.it came out good. everyone enjoyed it.thanks once again

jemivijay

Hi Jemima - many thanks for your feedback! So glad that you guys enjoyed it!

Great recipe! The Husband and I ate a double batch with samosa and chapatis. I can’t wait to try more of your listed recipes. Cheers!

Hi Michele: many thanks for your feedback! Double-batch of samosas and roti eh? You lucky people. Glad you and hubby enjoyed it! Do let me know how you get on with any of the other dishes too!

I was just wondering
Just channa masala have any aloo
Was it ur variation

I can’t get enough if this channa masala - it’s AMAZING! Thank you so much for making this website! Do you happen to have any good samosa recipes?

Hi breez: it was kind of my variation - actually it was my Mum who taught me how to make it - and yes - you can cook it without the potato (aloo) if you like.

Megan: So glad you liked it - it truly is one of my favourites too! It’s a wonderful “comfort” food dish when served with rice. I do know how to make samosas - ut haven’t done any pages on it yet - but I surely will do now that you ask for it! Be sure to check my homepage: http://www.route79.com/journal from time to time - look under the “food” section on the left hand sidebar. I’ll try to do samosas in the next few weeks! Cheers!

Hi Jag.
Have been into Indian/Pakistani food for 30+ yrs and I’d like to congratulate you on your Channa masala recipe. Just did it for late main meal tonight—excellent.

Hi Tom - many thanks for your comment and feedback. And thanks you for the kind complement! So glad you liked it - and hope you can continue to cook it - and refine it to suit your taste for many more times to come!

I FOUND THE RECIPE VERY EASY AND THE PHOTOS LOOKED GREAT TOO. I LOVE COOKING AND I ALWAYS TRY TO FIND VAIRATIONS TO THE DISHES THAT WE EAT EVERYDAY. KEEP IT UP. SAVS

Hi Savs: many thanks!

i think u could lessen the amount of water and increase the amount of oil,road side chaat stalls may be using hydrogenated veg oil or animal fat or tallows to make things tasty have u heard of thing called rogan josh maybe it looks like solid as gelatine and gives lot of oil to the body of the food i am not sure please let me know if have some information on rogan josh as ingredient , your musings on life and journey photomontage and recipes u make and simple and lively family u are makes me feel happy about u and makes me feel happy too