Punjabi Chole

Here's a recipe for Punjabi Chole which is different, drier and tasty. My husband and I particularly like it a lot. The recipe calls for onion and tomatoes only as a garnish whilst the channa is cooked with ginger and spice powders. This would also be perfect when you want to make something without onion or garlic.



INGREDIENTS

Channa (Chickpeas) - 250 gms
Amchur powder, to taste
Salt, to taste
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Ghee - 2 tsp
Onion - 1 medium, chopped
Tomato - 1 medium, chopped
Coriander leaves - 2-3 tbsp, chopped

Dry Roast & Grind
Bay leaf - 1
Mustard - 2 tsp
Jeera - 2 tsp
Methi - 1/4 tsp
Clove - 1
Dried Red Chilli - 1

For Masala Paste - Grind : (with little water)
Clove - 1
Cinnamon - 1 small piece
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Green Chillies - 2
Pepper - 1/2 tsp

Method
1. Soak Channa overnite and cook with salt till soft.
2. In a kadai, pour the cooked channa (along with the water it cooked in)
3. Add the dry roasted and ground powder, the masala paste, garam masala, amchur and salt to taste. (It may taste slightly bitter at this stage because of methi but this will go away once cooked).
4. Once the mixture comes to a boil, cover, simmer and allow to cook until most of the water evaporates and the masala sticks to the channa. This is a semi-dry curry.
5. Heat 2 tsp of ghee separately, make a space in the center of the chole and pour the smoky hot ghee and cover for a few minutes.
6. Serve warm with chopped onion, tomatoes and coriander as toppings.

I would like to submit this as my entry for RCI - Punjab
which is hosted by Richa and is the brainchild of Lakshmi.