Pet Pooja: Spicy Chole or Chickpeas

Chickpeas is not only rich in proteins but when cooked properly is yummy too. The key thing here is the slow cooking and patience while preparing the gravy. There are multiple combinations that can be prepared with Chole like Chole rice, Chole with Puri, Chole-Bhature, Chole with Samose, Chole-Tikki etc.

Ingredients

3-4 medium size tomatoes
2-3 medium size onion
2-3 cloves of garlic
a block of ginger
2 dried red chili
Spices (Salt to taste, turmeric powder, cumin seeds, asafetida or hing, Everest's Chole Masala)
Whole spices (2-3 tez patta or bay leaves, 2-3 small dalchini or cinnamon sticks, seeds of big elaichi or black cardamom crushed)
3-4 tbsp oil
Around half a kg Chole or chickpeas

Procedure

Soak chole overnight with extra water. Boil them in pressure cooker with water (with salt and turmeric powder) till 5-6 whistle or till Chole is soft.

Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. Now add tez patta or bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, crushed big elaichi seeds, dried red chili and hing.

Add a paste of onion, ginger and garlic on the pan and let it cook for some time or till the paste is little golden brown.

Add paste of tomatoes on it and add Chole Masala (My recommendation here is Everest Chole Masala). Let it cook for another around 10-20 minutes in a low flame. As you cook, you will see the color of gravy changes from light to dark as shown below. Keep stirring it in time to time to avoid burning of the gravy. Finally you will see that tomatoes and onions have formed a proper gravy, all spices are properly absorbed and oil has started to separate from the gravy.

Now add the gravy in boiled chole. Adjust water level and salt, if required and let it cook for some more time in low flame, so that the chole also absorbs the gravy properly.