Manchester's adopted-via-Curry-Mile chickpea curry: warm tomato base, ginger, garlic, garam masala, finished with fresh coriander. Found at almost every rice-and-three counter in the city.

Chana masala arrived in Manchester with the Pakistani migrants who shaped Wilmslow Road's Curry Mile from the 1970s. This and That on Soap Street has served it as one of the three rotating curries in the rice-and-three lineup since 1984; today it's the most-ordered plate at the counter. Manchester's vegan crowd adopted it; Bundobust and Lily's keep the Gujarati and Punjabi variants alive across the city's vegetarian rooms.

Where to eat Chana masala in Manchester

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Make it at home

Serves 445 minEasy

Ingredients

  • 2 tins chickpeas, drained
  • 2 onions, finely diced
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2cm ginger, grated
  • 400g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1 tsp chilli powder
  • Vegetable oil
  • Fresh coriander, lemon juice

Method

  1. Heat oil and soften the onions in a deep pan for 8 minutes until golden.
  2. Add garlic and ginger, cook 2 minutes. Add all the dry spices and toast 30 seconds.
  3. Pour in the tomatoes, simmer 10 minutes until thick. Add the chickpeas and 200ml water; simmer 15 minutes.
  4. Stir in garam masala, finish with chopped coriander and a squeeze of lemon. Serve with pilau rice or naan.

Editor tip. Don't drain the chickpea liquid into the pan; the starch thickens too fast and dulls the spice.