Notnick One of the best smple veggie curries going – but all about the spices.
2 cups of dried chickpeas. Soak overnight- will give you about 4 cups of raw soaked chickpeas. – drain and wash)
for the long pressure cook – about 20 minutes
the 2 cups of chickpeas (soaked to 4 cups)
5 cups of water
2 bay leaves
10-ish black peppercorns
5-ish Green cardamom pods – cracked
a cinnamon stick (4cm?)
1 tsp salt
2 teabags – regular breakfast tea or similar
The chickpeas should be cooked and but not mushy.
In another pan, fry
1 medium fine diced onion. Once softened, add 1 tsp grated ginger (a thumb knuckle worth!) 2-3 cloves and 2 cloves of crushed garlic. Soften up but dont let it brown. Add the a can of chopped tomatoes or pasatta and cook off on a slow simmer for 10 mins, until they’re cooked and falling apart.
Then, add spices –
- 3 teaspoons chole masala powder (below)
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Stir and cook the spices for 1 to 2 minutes.
Add the cooked chickpeas (along with the water in which they were boiled) and stir until the chickpeas are combined with the rest of the sauce. Add an extra 1/2 cup water and let it simmer for about 30 minutes.
The sauce will thicken after 30 minutes – add a bit of water if needed. You can also mash some of the chickpeas back into the sauce for a creamier sauce.
14- After 30 minutes the gravy, chickpeas and all the spices would have mixed well together. We can now do the tempering. Heat 1 tablespoon of ghee in a small pan. Once hot, add ginger juliennes (from 1-inch ginger) to it. Fry until the juliennes are golden brown in color but do not burn them.
15- Add to the chole curry, mix and switch off the flame.
Finish with 1/4 teaspoon garam masala, 1/2 tablespoon dried fenugreek leaves and 2 tablespoons chopped corriander.
Homemade Chole Masala Powder/Chana Masala Powder
This Punjabi chole recipe uses a special blend of spices known as chole masala or chana masala. Make a batch, and use as you need it:
- 2–4 black cardamom pods
- 10–12 black peppercorns
- 2–3 green cardamom pods
- 2 mace blades
- 1″ cinnamon stick
- ½ nutmeg (or a small pinch grated)
- 1 star anise
- 2–4 cloves
- ½ tsp fenugreek seeds
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- 8–10 dried red chilies
- ½ tsp carom seeds (ajwain)
- 2 tbsp dried pomegranate seeds
- Pinch of asafoetida (hing)
- ½ tsp Deggi red chili powder (optional for colour and heat)
Dry roast all the whole spices (except ginger powder) in a pan on medium heat until the spices are fragrant and become light golden in color, around 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and let the spices cool down. Then transfer the toasted spices to a spice grinder and also add the ground ginger. Grind until the spices are powdered and well combined. Store this masala in an airtight container and use as needed.