Chole, also known as channa masala, is a dish containing garbanzo beans and gravy. It can be served with roti, naan, bhatura, or basmati rice and topped with onions, fresh coriander leaves, imli chutney, and green chutney for a chaat taste!
Main dish for: 4 people. Prep Time: 1 hour. Cook Time: 1 hour.
Note: pay attention to whether recipe asks for seeds, powder, or leaves – it matters! If you are using dry garbanzo beans, they need to be soaked for 8-10 hours.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups dried or 4 cups soaked channa
- 3 (1/4 inch) sticks cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp dhaniya powder (coriander)
- 1/2 tsp haldi powder (turmeric)
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 green chili, finely chopped
- 1/2 inch ginger, grated
- 3 whole black pepper
- 2 pieces laung (cloves)
- 2 green elaichi (cardamom)
- 2 black elaichi (cardamom)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 dried red chili
- 1/4 tsp jeera seeds (cumin)
- 1/2 cup fresh chopped coriander leaves
- imli paste to taste
- salt to taste; water as needed
The Process:
1. Boil 4 cups of soaked channa (garbanzo beans) in 8 cups of water (should be covered in water) with salt to taste, 1/2 inch stick of cinnamon, 1/4 tsp dhaniya powder, 1/4 tsp haldi powder. It will take about 1/2 hour to cook, give or take.
2. While waiting for the channa to cook, take out or prepare the onion, green chili, ginger, 1/4 inch stick cinnamon, black pepper, laung, green and black cardamom, bay leaf, dried red chili, and jeera seeds. Heat the vegetable oil in a pot. To test the oil for warmth, drop in a few jeera seeds. If they start to fizzle a little, the oil is warm enough. After the oil is warm, add the whole dry spices.
3. Make sure every spice touches the oil and stir for 30 seconds. Then, add the ginger and green chili. Stir for about a minute longer, and then add the onions. Be careful, as this all will sputter a little.
4. Add the leaves dhaniya leaves (coriander) to the onion mix and fry them until a darker pink. The onions need to fully sautée before any water is added.
5. While the onion mix is being fried, mix 1/2 tsp dhaniya powder, 1/4 tsp haldi powder, 3/4 tsp chole masala, and 1/2 garam masala in a small bowl with a little water to create a paste.
6. After the onions are sautéed well, add the paste with the masala, and stir for 30 seconds or so. Check if the channa is cooked well at this point. It should be nice and soft, but not too tender and broken. Picture is enlarged to show detail.
7. Add all the onion masala mix to the fully cooked channa and some imli paste to taste. Put some more salt and imli as needed.
8. Serve hot and enjoy! Optional: garnish with chopped onion and fresh coriander leaves. The steps below show how to soak the channa and make the imli paste from scratch.
Process for soaked channa: soak 2 cups of dry garbanzo beans to make 4 cups of soaked garbanzo beans. Process to make imli paste: soak a block of tamarind (can obtain from grocery store), and leave in some water until soft and mash-able (time-saving hack: warm the tamarind and water in a microwave). Sieve the softened tamarind and add more water to the process if needed (keep in mind that more water dilutes the paste).
