Staple Corner: How to Make Your Own Chana Masala Powder


Visit the Indian Food Glossary for information on the ingredients in this recipe
Homemade Chana Masala Powder

Chana masala powders are used for a tart, tangy, spicy and fragrant finish to Indian chickpea curries known themselves as chana masala or chole masala. Whenever possible, I prefer to make my own spice blends at home. Quality pre-blended varieties are available at Indian grocers, but it's much more fun to concoct your own mixture to complement your culinary creations and the flavors and aromas of seeds and spices crushed and ground right in your own kitchen can't be beat. I made this chana masala powder in preparation for the chana masala I will be featuring this week.

Amchoor powder and the other ingredients used in this recipe are easily available at Indian and Asian grocers. If you want to make your own garam masala, some recipes can be found here.

Homemade Chana Masala PowderHomemade Chana Masala Powder
Recipe by
Cuisine: Indian
Published on April 14, 2007

A wonderful tart, tangy and aromatic homemade spice blend for chickpea curries

Preparation: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes

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Ingredients:
  • 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
  • 2 tablespoons cumin seeds
  • 2/3 teaspoons black cardamom seeds
  • 1/3 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
  • 1 2/3 teaspoons black peppercorns
  • 2 to 3 dried whole red chilies
  • 1/3 teaspoons whole cloves
 
  • pinch of ground ginger
  • pinch of mace
  • pinch of nutmeg
  • 1/3 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/3 teaspoon amchoor powder
Instructions:
  • Dry roast the seeds, peppercorns, chilies and cloves in a large frying pan over low heat until they begin to brown. Transfer to an electric coffee grinder with the ground spices and grind to a fine powder.

Makes approximately 1/3 cup. The recipe can be increased if you want to make a larger quantity.
Homemade Chana Masala Powder

7 comments:

trupti said...

Thats a nice recipe...I also add some pomegranate powder along with some aamchoor.....I love the tanginess of them both.

trupti

Mansi Desai said...

That's a neat recipe Lisa..definitely worth the effort so you can add more flaavor to your dishes picking your own ingredients!

Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

is there such a spice called "yellow cardamom"

Lisa said...

Yes, I think there is a spice called yellow cardamom, though I have never used it myself. Would be interested in trying it.

Heath said...

Lisa, how did you make this recipe if you 've never used this mysterious Yellow Cardamom? :) Perhaps the recipe is meant to have said Green Cardamom?

Lisa said...

Now I see my mistake. I meant to say yellow mustard seeds. I will correct the error. You could also use some green cardamom as well.

Heath said...

Fantastic, thanks! :)