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Daal & beansPunjabi recipes

Lahori Chanay Recipe

لاہوری چنے بنانے کا طریقہ

Lahori chanay like the halwa puri shops make: soft white chickpeas in a thick, dark, tangy gravy with anardana, finished with ginger and green chilli.
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Illustration of Lahori Chanay

Prep

15 min

Cook

1 hr 15 min

Marinate / soak

8 hr

Serves

5

Difficulty

Easy

Spice

Medium hot

These are the chickpeas that sit next to halwa and puri on every Sunday breakfast table in Lahore. The chanay are cooked until they almost fall apart, then some are mashed into the masala so the gravy turns thick and clings to the puri. Ground anardana gives the dark colour and gentle sourness that sets the Lahori version apart.

Ingredients

5 servings

For 5 servings

Measures

To boil the chanay

For the masala

To finish

Method

  1. Wash the chickpeas and soak them overnight in plenty of water; they will double in size.

    ⏱ 480 min

  2. Drain and put in a large pot with 8 cups of fresh water, the baking soda, black cardamom, bay leaf and salt. Bring to the boil and skim off the froth.

    ⏱ 5 min

  3. Cover and simmer on low heat until the chickpeas are very soft and crush easily. Keep the cooking water. (In a pressure cooker: about 15 minutes on low after the first whistle.)

    ⏱ 50 min

  4. In a separate pot, heat the oil on medium heat and fry the onions until deep brown; this colour is what makes the gravy dark.

    ⏱ 10 min

  5. Add the ginger-garlic paste and fry for a minute. Add the tomatoes, salt, red chilli, turmeric, coriander and cumin powder and the ground anardana. Bhuno, adding splashes of the chickpea water, until the tomatoes have melted and oil rises to the top.

    ⏱ 8 min

  6. Add the chickpeas with their water. Take out a cupful of chickpeas, mash them roughly and stir them back in. Simmer uncovered on low heat until the gravy is thick and coats the back of a spoon.

    ⏱ 15 min

  7. Stir in the garam masala, ginger matchsticks and green chillies, cover and leave on the lowest heat for 5 minutes. Scatter coriander and serve hot.

    ⏱ 5 min

Tips for the best result

  • A little baking soda softens the chickpeas faster and gives that melting halwa-puri texture. Do not add more than a quarter teaspoon or they taste soapy.
  • Roast the anardana in a dry pan for a minute before grinding. It darkens and the flavour becomes deeper.
  • Some shops add a tea bag to the boiling chickpeas for a darker colour; it changes the look more than the taste.

Common mistakes

  • Using undercooked chickpeas. If they are firm, the gravy never thickens and the dish tastes like boiled chana in sauce.
  • Pulling the onions off the heat when they are only golden. For Lahori chanay they need to be properly brown.

How to serve

Serve with puri and sooji halwa for a full halwa puri breakfast, or with kulcha or naan, sliced onion and achar.

Storing and reheating

Keeps 3 days in the fridge and freezes well for a month. Add a little hot water when reheating.

Nutrition and cost

Worked out from the ingredients, not measured in a lab. Treat both as a rough guide.

Per serving Estimate

Calories
480kcal
Protein
18g
Fat
20g
Carbs
61g
Fibre
12.3g
Sodium
790mg

Estimated from USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy (April 2018), public domain values for the raw ingredients (99% of the recipe by weight had data). Deep-frying oil is counted at 20%; bones and water lost in cooking are not subtracted, so bone-in and fried dishes can read high. Not medical advice. Method

Cost per servingEstimate

≈ Rs 30

Whole dish ≈ Rs 150 · 59% of ingredients by weight priced

From the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics weekly SPI, week ended 29 Oct 2026. Spices, herbs and some vegetables are not in the SPI and are left out unless you add your price, so the real cost is a little higher. How this works

Lahori Chanay: questions people ask

Can I use tinned chickpeas for Lahori chanay?

Yes. Use about 3 tins, drained, with 2 cups of water, and simmer them in the masala for 20 minutes so they soften and the gravy thickens.

Why are my chickpeas still hard after hours of boiling?

Old chickpeas or hard water are the usual reasons. Soak overnight, add a pinch of baking soda to the boiling water, and keep tomatoes out until the chickpeas are soft.

Serve it with, and similar recipes

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Read this recipe in Urdu: لاہوری چنے بنانے کا طریقہ

https://handi.danixsoft.com/recipes/lahori-chanay · Handi, DanixSoft