The Foodie Quartet

Channa Masala aka Chole aka Chickpea Curry

Make a chickpea curry and you can eat it as an appetizer or a chunky soup or as a side dish for the main course….endless possibilities! Chickpeas are my favorite legumes. Make hummus or curry or the south Indian sundal, I will eat it in any form. Roated, fried, boiled, don’t matter! yum!

This particular chickpea curry is very specifically catered to the taste buds of my children. They love poori chole and chole bhature. But their threshold for heat is very low, which means I had to modify restaurant favorites to suit their palate. This is a common item at home because it is absolutely delicious and nutritious. One pot curry that satiates their hunger and my need to feed them healthy, all in one go!

We ate this chole with jowar wheat flour pooris for a nice weekend meal. I am hoping that one day, they will look up this recipe and try to make their own curry because they are very particular about how they like it…so they better learn to make it.

I have used home cooked chickpeas but canned chickpeas are a great time saving alternative.

To cook your own chickpeas : Soak a cup and a half of dry chickpeas overnight in enough water. In the inner vessel of an Instant Pot, add the soaked beans, cover it water and add a pinch of turmeric powder. Put the lid on, seal the vent, and cook the chickpeas on Bean Mode for 30 minutes, for a soft and well done texture. Once the pressure settles, remove from the pot and drain thoroughly. rinse under cold running water if desired.

Prep time : 15 minutes	Spice Level : 🌶🌶
Cook time : 20 minutes	Ease level : 😃

Ingredients :

1. Cooked chickpeas – 2.5 cups
2. Tomatoes – pureed – 2 large ripe ones
3. Onion – 1 medium – finely chopped
4. Green chili – 1 small
5. Ginger garlic paste – 1 teaspoon each
6. Turmeric powder – 1/2 teaspoon
7. Paprika/Kashmiri chili powder – 1 teaspoon
8. Coriander Powder – 1 tablespoon
9. Cumin Powder – 1 teaspoon
10. Garam Masala Powder – 1 teaspoon
11. Chole Masala – 1 teaspoon (optional ,I skip it at times)
12. Kasoori Methi – 1 teaspoon (optional)
13. Jaggery – 1/2 teaspoon – optional
14. Cilantro for garnish – optional
15. Salt to taste
16. Oil to cook curry – 2 tablespoon or less if you desire
17. Water as needed

How To :

• Open the Instant Pot lid and mix well, check for salt and adjust to taste.
• Add the powdered jaggery now, if you desire.
• Mix it well, gravy may look runny, but will thicken as it cools down. If not, mash a few chickpeas using a potato masher and add it back in the sauce.
• Remove to a serveware, garnish with cilantro if desired and serve with rice/roti/poori. Enjoy !
• You can use Red Kidney Beans, Brown Chickpeas or Black Eyed peas in place of the white garbanzo beans. Any legume works well in this gravy/sauce/curry.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!! Make it your own and relish it. Thank you for stopping by!

Variation : Chickpea curry

In the above recipe, when adding water, in Step 3, remove 1/4 cup of water and replace it with 1/4 cup of Black Indian tea. This adds a great color and flavor to the chickpea curry. A very unique addition to the Punjabi chole masala is this black tea. I added 1/4 cup of Tetley elaichi black tea. Do give this a try for a subtle yet delicious twist to the chickpea curry recipe!