Cooking with Shail

Hey!! Today I am posting recipe for famous punjabi dish Chole (Chickpea). This dish is spicy and tasty. Punjabi’s are known for their spicy dishes and this chickpea curry/gravy dish is the very famous, yummy and finger licking good. The spices used are hot spices and you can change the amount as per your palette. I have made the chole masala powder at home you get ready packet of chole masala powder at any supermarket. A dash of hot spices and spoon of cream makes this dish full of flavors and a yummy meal. Have this curry with bhatura, hot puris, parathas, Naan, Tandori Roti or Jeera Rice. Don’t forget to drink a glass of Lassi with this which is yet another famous Punjabi drink (will post the recipe soon). Lets get cooking this tasty Punjabi dish…..

Ingredients:

1)For Chickpea:

Chickpeas- 200 gms

Water for boiling- 5 cups

Salt -1 tsp

Soda Bi Carb- a Pinch

Tea powder- 1/2 tsp

Clove (Laung)- 1 piece

2) For Chole Masala Powder:

Caraway Seeds (Shah Jeera)- 2 tbsp

Black Pepper (Mari) - 1 tsp

Cloves (Laung) - 4 pieces

Cinnamon Stick (Taj) - 1 inch

Bay Leaf (Tej Patta)- 1 piece

Coriander Seeds- 1 Tbsp

Cumin- 1 tbsp

Green Cardamom seeds- 1/4 tsp

Black Salt- 1 tsp

Kashmiri Red Chilli- 3 medium size pieces

Ginger Powder- 1 tbsp

Mango Powder- 1 tsp

3) For Curry/Gravy-

Oil and Clarified butter (Ghee)- 1 tsp

Boiled Tomatoes- 2 Large

Onions- 2 medium

Ginger Garlic Paste- 2 tbsp

Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp

Red Chilli Powder- 1 1/2 tbsp (if using Kashmiri Mirch Powder or 1/2 tbsp for any other chilli powder)

Coriander Powder- 1 tbsp

Cumin Powder- 1 tbsp

Chole Masala Powder as made above- 2 tbsp

Cream- 1 tbsp

Dried Fenugreek leaves- 2 tsp

Salt as per taste

Method:

For Chickpea-

Soak the Chickpeas for at least 6-7 hours in lukewarm water. After soaking boil the chickpeas in pressure cooker by adding three times the water of the amount of chickpeas, a pinch of soda bi carb and salt. Make a small pouch of tea powder and clove using muslin cloth or any cloth pouch and tie it tightly. Put this pouch along with the chickpeas for boiling. Boil on high flame for 15- 20 mins. Let the cooker cool down and check if the chickpeas are soft and boiled.

For Chole Masala Powder:

Dry Roast all the ingredients as mentioned above and grind it to fine powder. You can store this powder for further use in airtight container.

For Curry/Gravy:

Make a puree of the boiled tomatoes and onion separately. Take a wok or heavy bottom vessel for cooking. Add the oil and clarified butter in this vessel and switch on the gas to medium flame. Once warm add the onion paste and cover the vessel with a lid and let it cook till it becomes light pink in color. Now add the ginger garlic paste and tomato puree and again cover with lid and let it cook for 1 - 2 minutes. Now add the turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and let it cook for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes the gravy will become little thick now add the chole masala powder, cream and the chickpea water that is left after boiling the chickpeas and cover the vessel with a lid and let it cook for 10 minutes. When the curry starts leaving the sides and becomes thick add little water again and dried fenugreek leaves and mix well. Now add the salt and boiled chickpeas and again some water if the curry feels thick. let it simmer for 2 minutes and then switch off the gas. Cover this immediately with a heavy lid. Since we have added salt while boiling the chickpeas the salt is to be added only for the curry portion. Serve this hot garnished with some coriander leaves.