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Hacienda De Guru Ram Das
Food for Health
Punjabi Chhole: Chickpeas, the Punjabi way!
by A MAD TEA PARTY
http://www.sikhchic.com/article-detail.php
id=527&cat=7
Serves 6
3 C chickpeas/garbanzo beans, soaked overnight (or
soak for 3-4 hours in hot water)
½ t baking soda
1" piece of ginger, peeled and grated
2 C chopped onion
1 C chopped tomatoes
2-3 T oil
2 t red chili powder
1 t garam masala (optional)
salt
for the masala:
2 T (heaped) coriander seeds
1 T anardana (seeds of wild pomegranate), omit if not
available
1" cinnamon stick
4-5 cloves
1 t black peppercorns
3-4 black cardamom
2 t cumin seeds
1 or 2 whole dry red chilies (optional)
to garnish:
green chilies, slit down the middle
tomatoes, cut into thick wedges
lime, sectioned
Drain the chhole; some of what makes these beans
hard to digest is water soluble and you will get rid of
some of that this way. Rinse them out once more to
make sure. Put them in a pressure cooker with enough
water to cover them (by about an inch). If you like
your chhole a bit on the softer side, add half a teaspoon
of baking soda (more will make them mush) to
the chhole. No salt at this point. Cook under pressure
for 20 minutes, or cook covered in a heavy pan till
tender.
grind to a powder.
Heat oil in a heavy pan (or karahi). Add ginger and stir
till just fragrant. Add chopped onions and cook till
pink, when they are just getting tinged at the edges.
Now add the tomatoes and fry (bhunno), stirring all the
time, till the oil separates. There isn't much oil to separate
here, so it has to be done on medium heat and takes
a long time (20-30 minutes).
When cooking a larger quantity (or when short on
time), I would suggest you increase the amount oil (one
and half times or double) since you don't want to be in
the kitchen for the good part of a day.
Once the ginger-onion-tomato is fried well and almost
dry, add the fresh ground spice blend, garam masala
(optional), and red chili powder. Add the slit green
chilies and stir for a few minutes till your kitchen
smells like heaven (Remove the green chilies and add
this fragrant paste to the cooked chhole, and salt.
Adjust water to your liking - I like mine really thick.
Mix and cook (simmer) for 20 minutes, stirring every
now and then, or cook in the pressure cooker for 10
minutes.
Serve hot with poori, bhature, or naan, garnished with
the green chilies you have set aside, wedges of tomatoes
(drizzled with oil and swirled around in a hot pan
for a minute or two, if you like), and lime.
While the chickpeas are cooking, heat a pan to roast
your whole spices - I use my cast iron pan. On medium
heat roast the spices, all together, shaking and
tossing, till they have almost blackened. Cool and
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