Chana Masala powder recipe?

It seems this is a fairly key ingredient in making chana masala. Searching the internet, there are myriad recipes, and with my limited experience cooking in this area, it's hard to tell which might be best. Can anyone provide or point me to a tried and true recipe? Again, just looking for the powder recipe, not the recipe for the full dish.

Thanks,

=R=

What is called for besides the ingredients in the wiki ref I used is Garam Masala which is actually a curry. In Indian cooking, any spice combination is a curry and needs to be distinguished from the ubiquitous Western ‘Curry Powder’.
I used to have an extensive collection of spices from an Indian grocery but after two instances of cabinet infestation I turned to Penzy’s for my spices and blends.
So I would advise making your own blends until you achieve wht you like, trying to replicate what you have liked in the past.
One of the key ingredients I have found is the Amchur powder whihc I don't believe is from Penzy’s and for those I seal in a plastic zip lock.
Fresh Farms on Touhy has a good Indian selection and I have even found dal from Canada.
I use Penzy’s Maharajah Curry (Saffron based), Regular and their new ‘Now Curry’ along with their Garam Masala as well as my own blends for different dishes which i have developed over the years.
It also helps that we have in Milwaukee, Bombay Sweets. A vegetarian Indian Restaurant to get a sense of what dishes are like but their recipe uses Chana Dal. I will have to find some of the Kala Chana to try.-Richard

I know this is a completely unhelpful response but every time I've tried making my own Indian spice blend (chana masala, nihari, etc), I find myself wishing i'd just bought a box Shan or equivalent.

I started making my own garam masala spice 40 years ago when I ran a weekend restaurant at my winery. The spice was a key ingredient in Geo's Special East India Beans. It's actually a very authentic Indian blend, and the technique--so far as I could learn-- is also authentic. Here 'tis.

Geo

5 x 3-in pieces of cinnamon stick
One cup whole cardamom pods, preferably green pods [I've used whole seeds, amount adjusted appropriately, taste doesn't seem to vary much either way]
1/2 cup whole cloves
1/2 cup whole cumin seeds
1/4 cup whole coriander seeds
1/2 cup whole black peppercorns

Preheat oven to 200°F. Spread all spices on a baking/cookie sheet and roast for half an hour. Gently stir once or twice during roasting. Do *not* brown! De-seed the cardamom pods, throwing away the hulls. Crush the cinnamon with a rolling pin or whatever fairly finely. Mix everything together well in a bowl, and then grind in a spice grinder or coffee grinder or blender until it is a fine powder. Put into airtight jars. Refrigeration or freezing will prolong the life of the spice. [As this mixture roasts your house will smell wonderful!

Thanks for the replies but looking for a recipe chana masala powder not garam masala powder. Apparently, they are not one and the same.

Yes, Alek, at this point, buying it seems like a great idea. Since there's no definitive recipe, I might as well start with a pre-made rendition, see how I like it and adjust from there if necessary. Unfortunately, The Spice House does not carry this, though they carry just about everything to make most of the recipes I've found online.

=R=

Ronnie,
If I read Richard's comment above correctly, his recipe for Chana Masala *includes* Garam Masala powder. If I misread Richard, sorry to have taken up your time. : )

Geo

Both Shan and MDH make chana masala blends. These, and other brands, should be available at Indian markets for about a dollar per package. It would be interesting to try several to see which you like best or to use as inspiration for eventually making your own. A year ago I was experimenting with pav bhaji and was surprised how different the commercial blends were. And while you're shopping, you can pick up a bag of kala chana (black chickpeas) as an alternate legume. They're delicious, but take a long time to cook. Your Instant Pot should make short work of them.

I don't make a separate powder just for masala chana dal but here are the dried spices I use in the recipe, which you could just pre-assemble into a dedicated powder:

5 whole cloves
.5 tsp mustard seeds
scant .25 tsp ground cardamom
2 tsp ground turmeric
2.5 tsp coriander
2 tsp cumin
.5 tsp cinnamon
.5 tsp black pepper
.5 tsp cayenne
.5 tsp amchoor

That's enough for 1 lb dried chickpeas, or about 3x 14 oz cans. If you don't have amchoor, lemon juice is a fine substitute. My recipe includes a couple tablespoons of minced fresh ginger, but you could always add some dried ginger to the powder instead.

Thanks, Rene G and egghead. Very much appreciated. Everything on egghead's recipe is available at The Spice House and I'm headed there tomorrow. And next time I'm near an applicable market, I'll try a couple of the pre-made versions, as well . . . and definitely some kala chana, too!

=R=

Yeah, the recipe I use (from an Indian street cooking cookbook I bought in Mumbai) also doesn't have a dedicated chana masala but rather garam masala + some other spices (including amchur, which is added towards the end of cooking.) The one interesting tidbit in this cookbook was to pressure cook your chickpeas (2 cups) with one tea bag. Before reading this book, I didn't realize this was a thing, but researching it, it does seem to be fairly common in chole/chana masala dishes. Just a tip, if you're interested.

Binko wrote:Just a tip, if you're interested.

Yes, thanks.

=R=

Oh, and just to add, so far as I could tell the purpose of the tea is moreso to add a darker color to the chickpeas than affecting the flavor.