Punjabi Chole – Chick Peas Curry

No matter which part of India we are from, we all share a liking for 2 things. AR Rahman’s music and Punjabi dhaba food. 🙂

Dhaba food like bhel puri, pani puri, channa kachori are like my most favorite food in the world. We had bought some frozen kachori from an Indian grocery store so I set out to make the perfect chole combination for it. And here is the Punjabi chole recipe I tried. Karthik (and I) loved it so much he even had it for dinner! The preparation for Punjabi Chole is different from the regular Channa Masala recipe but it tastes heavenly.

Preparation Time: 60 minutes
No of servings : 3-4
Spice Level : 3 out of 5

Ingredients:

• Kabuli Channa (Chick peas or Garbanzo beans) : 3 cups ( soak it overnight  or  soak it in hot water for an hour or so)
• Green chilies : 2-3
• Onions : 1 (large) (cut lengthwise)
• Tomatoes : 2
• Ginger : 2 tsp ( chopped finely)
• Red chili Powder : 3 tsp
• Black Cardamoms : 2 (you can use green instead of it too)
• Bay Leaf : 1
• Cinnamon Stick : 1/2″
• Oil : 1 & 1/2 tbsp
• Fresh coriander Leaves : for garnishing
• Salt : to taste

• Coriander seeds : 1 & 1/2 tbsp
• Cloves : 3
• Cinnamon : 1 inch
• Pepper corns : 1/2 tsp
• Black Cardamoms : 2
• Cumin seeds : 3/4 tsp
• Anardana : 1 & 1/2 tsp (dried pomegranate seeds) (optional)

Method Of Preparation:

1. Just fry the above masala powder ingredients and grind it into a smooth powder. Keep it aside.
2. Soak channa overnight or soak it in hot water for an hour or so in a air tight container or a casserole dish.
3. After that pressure cook chana (chick peas) with 3-4 cups of water, a tea bag, cinnamon stick and black cardamom for 2-3 whistles (if you soak it overnight ) or 6-7 whistle (if you soak for an hour) or till it becomes soft (if you don’t have a pressure cooker).
4. Make sure it’s not overcooked  it should be soft and mushy. After that drain the water and keep the water aside and discard the tea bag.
5. Take 1/4 cup of cooked channa grind it into smooth paste and keep it aside.
6. Now heat oil in a kadai or heavy bottomed pan and add bay leaves.
7. After that add chopped ginger and green chilies sautee for few seconds.
8. Now add the chopped onions fry them till it becomes translucent and then add chopped tomatoes fry them for about 3-4 minutes.
9. Now add red chili powder and salt.  Mix it all together and cook until the tomatoes are soft and oil separates on top for about 10 minutes in low flame.
10. Now add the ground masala powder and mix it all together.
11. Finally add the cooked channa and mashed channa from step 5 with the pressure cooked water from step 4. If the water is not enough for the gravy add some more water.
12. Mix it well cover it with lid and cook in simmer heat for about 15-18 minutes.
13. Finally remove from heat and garnish it with coriander leaves.
14. Serve it hot with chapathi or add somosa or channa and serve it as your own Punjabi Dhaba chat!