Chole Masala
Chole, also interchangeably called Chana Masala, Amritsari Pindi Chole etc. is a well-known Indian food made with boiled chickpeas, aromatics like onions, tomatoes and spices and sour from the addition of tamarind.
Servings: 4 -6 servings
Ingredients
Boiling Chickpeas with tea
- 1 cup dry chickpeas
- 1 small potato slightly mashed after boiling
- 1 tea bag
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 Bay leaf
- 2 green cardamoms
- 2 cloves
- ½ tsp baking soda
Sauce
- 1 medium sized onion chopped
- 1 small tomato chopped
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp ginger paste
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 green chili chopped
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- 1 tsp coriander -cumin powder
- 2 tsp chole masala
- 2 tbsp tamarind paste
- ¼ cardamom powder
- 1 tbsp kasuri methi crushed
- Cilantro to garnish
Instructions
- Soak chickpeas overnight in water or at least 4-6 hours. Transfer them to pressure cooker, instant pot or regular pot whatever method you are using. Add a tea bag or tea potli and whole spices like bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cardamom and cloves. Add 3 cups of water and baking soda. Boil them until they are soft.
- Once boiled, remove the tea bag or tea potli and discard it. Leave the chickpeas aside until you make the sauce.
- In a pot, add some oil. Once the oil is hot added cumin seeds. As soon as cumin seeds start crackling. Add grated ginger, garlic, onions. Cook them until they turn translucent. Add chopped tomatoes and tomato puree.
- After few seconds, add all the spices one by one. Stir to combine all spices. Transfer the chickpeas with some of the water. You might not require all the water. But do not discard water. Add chole masala, salt and crushed kasoori methi. Mash some chickpeas and potatoes with the back of the spatula or spoon. Let the chickpeas simmer and reduce to consistency of your liking. Use the water left aside if needed. At the very end add cardamom powder, cilantro and they should be ready to serve. ( I like to use all up all the water and let it simmer until it is reduced)
Notes
- You can use canned chickpeas, but I prefer dried and soaking method. If you use store bought chickpeas and still want to use the tea bags, you can add tea bag while simmer the chickpeas. Once you get the color, you can remove.
- Overnight soaking or soaking them for few hours is very important. They cook evenly and have better texture.