Punjabi Chhole (Garbanzo Beans, or White Channa)

Chhole Chawal

I tried this one in the beginning of December. I haven't made Chhole in forever and managed with a pretty good end result. Nothing like what my mommy makes ... but passable with my modifications to the original recipe.

Prep Time: 20-30 min with canned beans

Ingredients:

1) 2 cans of garbanzo beans - if you use dry beans you may need to soak these in hot water for at least a couple of hours (or overnight at room temperature) and use a pressure cooker to soften the beans

2) 1 large diced tomato

3) 1 large diced onion

4) 1 cup finely chopped cilantro leaves (dhania leaves)

5) 1 tbsp ginger/garlic paste

6)  1 tbsp channa masala

7) 1 tbsp cooking oil

8)  2 -3 pieces each of the following whole spices - cloves, green cardamom, black peppercorns,  small stick of cinnamon, bay leaves

9) 1/2 tbsp garam masala

10) salt to taste.

Directions:

A potato masher!! 

In a deep pan, heat up the oil and fry up onions until caramelized around the edges. Add ginger garlic paste, blend it in really well with the fried onions, and then add all the whole spices, fry for a few more minutes and add the tomato. Add about a half cup of water and bring to a rolling boil. If you used dry beans and pressure cooked these, use the water the beans were cooked with, instead of fresh tap water. Once the whole mixture is boiling really well, add the drained beans and turn the heat down to a good simmer. About 10 minutes later, use a potato masher (see pic) and mash some of the beans to the bottom of the pan (this was a trick my G'ma taught me and it makes all the difference in how your dish turns out!!). Then add the spices (chana masala, garam masala) and the cilantro leaves and simmer for a few more minutes.

Chhole are served best over plain white steamed rice, or over a slice of thick white bread .. or if you want to be particularly unhealthy ;-) .. with puris ...  which is basically deep fried bread. Yummy!