Chana Masala

Chana Masala/Chole is a very popular Indian curry which finds its roots in the northern regions of India. It is a part of the Punjabi cuisine. It is usually served with Puri or Batura and can also be served with rice or roti. The same chole can also be used in the preparation of chaat. The hero of this dish is the Garbanzo beans (chickpeas) and the gravy is tangy and very flavorful. This is one of my favorite dishes and I'm sure you will relish it as well.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Garbanzo Beans (chickpeas) - 1 cup (soaked for 6-8 hrs)

Cloves - 4

Cardamom - 4

Cinnamon stick - a small piece

Bay leaves - 2

Oil  - 4 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Onion - 1 (chopped)

Tomato - 2 (chopped)

Turmeric Powder - 0.5 tsp

Chilly Powder - 1.5 tsp

Coriander Powder - 1 tsp

Cumin Powder - 0.5 tsp

Amchur powder - 1 tsp

Coriander leaves - to garnish

Salt - to taste

For the broth:

Tea leaves - 3 tsp

Cloves - 3

Cardamom - 2 crushed

Cinnamon - 1 small piece

Bay leaves - 1

Water - 1 cup

Preparation:

1. Soak the Chana (Garbanzo beans) overnight for 6-8 hours.

2. Add tea leaves, cardamom, cinnamon, clove and bay leaves to water and bring it to boil. Filter this and add the broth to the chana. 

3. Pressure cook the chana with this broth (5-6 whistles). Cooking the chana with the broth will add flavor and color to the chana. Make sure the chana is very well cooked and is easily mashable.

4. Make a powder of cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and bay leaves. We can use it in its whole form, but I don't prefer it that way since I don't want those pieces in my mouth. You can also use garam masala powder available in stores if you want, but I like to grind my garam masala this way.

5. Heat oil, add cumin seeds and the ground garam masala that we made above. Let it cook for a while.

6. Once they start spluttering, then add onion, salt and ginger-garlic-chilly paste.

7. Once the onion turns slightly brown, add tomatoes. Cook it until it becomes mashy.

8. Next add the turmeric powder, chilly powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and amchur powder. Let the masala cook for a bit.

9. Next add the pressure cooked broth to the above mixture and let it simmer for a while.

10. In the meantime, take some boiled chana and make a paste out of it. This will give a good consistency when added to the chana masala.

11. Add the above paste and the rest of the chana to the onion-tomato mixture and let it simmer on medium flame. 

12. The chana masala should be a bit tangy, so add the amchur masala as needed.

13. Garnish it with coriander leaves.

Yummy Chole is now ready to be served!!