Chole Masala is one of the more popular North Indian dishes, and also relies heavily on traditional Indian cooking techniques. Also known as “Garbanzo beans” or “Chickpeas”, this recipe for Chole Masala is the result of layering spice upon spice to produce a rich, flavourful curry. Garbanzo beans are also highly nutritious. As a member of the legume family, they are highly recommended for optimizing health and preventing disease by the American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association and American Cancer societies. Rehydrating dried beans is always going to be more healthy and flavourful, but this recipe can be sped up by using canned garbanzo beans too.
Ingredients
1 cup / 250g of Garbanzo Beans pre-soaked for 8-10 hours and boiled with a pinch of salt until nice and soft. (Use tinned Garbanzo beans if in a hurry)
2 medium sized Tomatoes, finely chopped
15g dried onions or 1-2 small Onions, finely chopped
5g dried ginger or 1/2 inch piece Grated Ginger
5g dried garlic flakes or 1-2 cloves grated garlic
1 whole Red Chilli, we prefer Kashmiri or Tianjin.
1 small Cassia Cinnamon Stick
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
2 Cloves
2 tbsp chopped fresh Coriander Leaves
1 tbsp chopped fresh Mint Leaves
1 tsp Pomegranate Seeds
1 tbsp Cooking Oil
Salt to taste
1 sliced Green Chilli for garnish (optional)
Thinly sliced onion for garnish (optional)
1 tsp of fresh Coriander Leaves for garnish (optional)
Serves 4. Time: 40 minutes.
Method
Dry roast the red chilli, cinnamon sticks, cloves, cumin seeds, pomegranate seeds on a slow flame for about 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat. Cool and grind the spices into a fine powder. Add fresh coriander leaves and mint leaves and grind again to form a paste. Heat oil in a large pan. Fry the finely chopped onion, ginger and garlic for about 2-3 mins. Then add chopped tomatoes and fry until they are soft. Add the ground paste and fry again for a min. Add the boiled garbanzo beans, salt and mix well. Cook for about 20-25 mins until all spices are well blended in with the beans. Remove from heat, and top with garnishes. Serve hot with rice, bread or extra large Puri or Bhatura.
Photo credit: Divya Kudua