Chhole (Indian Curried Chick peas)
This dish is from the Indian state of Punjab. It's normally served as channa-bhatura (curried chick peas with deep fried pancake like bread). This time I had to make do with locally available garlic bread instead of the bhatura.
Ingredients
Uncooked chick peas=====================1 tea cup full (soaked overnight)
(You can also use cooked chick peas that are available in cans in which case, there is no need to soak / pre-cook them)
Onion======================================2 (medium size)
Tomato=====================================2
Chana masala===============================4 tsp
Cloves=====================8
Cinnamon===================1 inch piece
Cardamom=================8
Vegetable oil================4 tbsp
Tea bag====================1
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All these ingredients are available at any Indian store (some supermarkets e.g. Tescos also stock ingredients for Indian cooking now)
Method
1. Soak the raw chick peas in water overnight. Wash them 3-4 times in water before use.
2. Put the soaked peas into a pressure cooker with sufficient water. Also add one tea bag to the peas in order to give it some bitterness and the dark colour (this is optional). Cook the peas in the pressure cooker, cook under pressure for 30 min. Make sure the peas are cooked. You should be able to mash them easily with your fingers. If not, adjust the later cooking time to suit.
3. Chop the onions and tomatoes finely.
4. Heat the oil in a thick bottomed vessel and add in the cloves, cinnamon and cardamom and fry for ~10 seconds.
5. Add in the chopped onions and mix. Lower the heat. Fry on a low heat for 30-45 minutes. Keep stirring so that the onions do not burn and turn golden brown. The onion frying process is most important as they absorb the flavours from the spices (I always thought onions turning golden brown was a myth as my onions used to go from translucent directly to burnt ....but onions do turn golden brown if fried carefully)
6. Add in the tomatoes and fry for 5 minutes until soft
7. Add in the channa masala and mix. Fry for 2 min.
8. Use a slotted spoon to remove the cooked peas from the pressure cooker without the water and add to the vessel and stir fry for 5 min. Add salt to taste.
9. Add in the water in which the beans were cooked and boil for 15 min on medium flame.
10. Serve garnished with salad.