Chole (chickpeas with gravy)

Chickpea, kabuli chana, chole…. address them as per your choice, but there is no doubt that this dish has special place in our kitchen.

We cook them to make our Sunday special, when we have guests for lunch, for birthday parties, kitty parties; they are part of food menu for marriages and restaurants and kids are happy to see them on their plate….

Chole complement rice, bhature and poori very well. Nowadays they are added as a part of salad also. My sister Nandini is a rice eating person. She can have rice every day in lunch and dinner. Except her, my parents and my other siblings are roti lovers. So, rice used to be part of our Sunday lunch followed by chole. Now Nandini is a mother of two children but her love for chole chaawal still remains the same…..😊

Ingredients:

For boiling……

Cabuli chana 200 gm
Water 3+1/2 cups
Salt 1 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
Mix of whole spices (saabut ya khade masale)… Black pepper 6…. cloves 4….. anise flower 1……cinnamon stick 2 medium size….. bayleaf 2 black cardamom pods 2

For cooking :

Rai 1/4 tsp
Cumin seeds 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida 1/8 tsp
Onion 1 big size
Tomatoes 2 small size
Green chillies 3-4
Ginger 1 small piece
Coriander powder 2 tsp
Red chilli powder 1 tsp
Salt 1/2 tsp
Garam masala powder 1 tsp (can increase or decrease as per your taste)

Water     1 cup

Process :

Wash kabuli chana twice and soak it overnight in 2+1/2 cups of water.

In the morning they will look like this…

Don’t throw away water and boil them in pressure cooker in the same water by adding 1 cup more water along with salt, turmeric powder and all whole spices. Personally I don’t add whole spices directly in the cooker. I tie them in a clean piece of cloth and then I add them with chole to boil. This process will help you in avoiding getting whole pieces of spices in your mouth and at the same time let you enjoy the intoxicating flavor of these spices. Boil chole till they are soft.

While chana is boiling, we can prepare gravy.

Chop onion, tomato and green chillies separately and grate ginger.

Heat 1 tsp oil and sauté chopped onion till it is brown. Take them out and grind in a fine paste. Keep it separately.

Now grind chopped tomatoes, green chillies and grated ginger.

Again heat 2 tbsp oil and crackle rai, asafoetida and cumin seeds. Add chopped tomatoes, green chillies and grated ginger followed by coriander and chili powder.

Saute it till oil starts leaving the sides – add grinded onion, mix it and add boiled cabuli chana along with its boiled water. Add 1 cup more water, otherwise chole will be very thick. Add salt as per your taste. Keep the heat on sim and let them cook for 10 – 15 minutes

Switch off the heat and add garam masala. Before serving add finely chopped green coriander leaves.