If you’ve browsed recipes on PureCurry.com, you noticed that I already have at least a couple of recipes with chickpeas as the star ingredient. My wife loves chickpeas, and so I’m always looking for new ways to cook ’em. Here are a couple other chickpeas recipes – Chana Masala and Chana Madra – you may want to check out. And by the way, here’s an interesting note about Chana Madra: I had never every heard of this dish before, and learned about it while watching an Indian food and culture show. It turned out to be one of the best finds ever, since it is yummy and tangy, and yet so easy to make.
Pindi Chana is another delicious preparation of chickpeas that is easy to prepare. The name of the dish comes from the city, Rawalpindi, that is in present day Pakistan, where the dish was prepared in this style. If you start with canned chickpeas, then it is really quick to make this dish. I usually start from dry chickpeas, unless I need to cook at short notice.
A unique characteristic about this recipe is that the chickpeas are boiled with black tea, and that gives the dish a dark color and a distinctive smoky flavor. Dried Pomegranate Seeds add sourness to the dish; you’ll find that in most of my other recipes I use Dried Mango Powder (Amchur) to add sourness. Dried Pomegranate Seeds are used extensively in Punjabi cooking.
Ingredients
1.5 cups dry (or 3 cups canned) Garbanzo Beans/Chickpeas (Kabuli Chana)
2″ piece of Cinnamon Stick
2 Black Cardamoms
2 Cloves
2 Black Tea Bags
1-2 Bay leaves
1/2 tsp Carom Seeds (Ajwain)
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1/4 tsp Asafetida (Hing)
1 inch piece of Ginger, julienned
1/2 tsp Kashmiri Red Chili Powder
1 tsp Dry Mango Powder (Amchur)
1tsp Pomegranate Seed Powder
1 tsp Dried Fenugreek Leaves (Qasoori Methi)
1/2 tsp Garam Masala
1 tsp Salt (adjust to taste)
NOTE: The Dried Mango Powder and Pomegranate Seed Powder add sourness to the dish. Feel free to use either or both of them when preparing a chickpeas dish.
Preparation
Soak the Chickpeas in ample water for at least 6 hours and drain; discard the soaking water. TIP: The chickpeas double in volume after soaking, so be sure to use a big enough bowl and a little more than double the quantity of water. So for 1.5 cups of chickpeas, you need at least 3-3.5 cups of water for soaking.
Boil the Chickpeas for for about 40-45 minutes in 5 cups of water on medium heat with 2 black tea bags, 2″ piece of Cinnamon, Bay leaf and 1/2 tsp salt until they are soft. Keep an eye on the pot and in case the water starts to dry up, you can add some more hot water. NOTE: If you are starting with canned chickpeas, you need to boil them for a shorter period of time, about 15 minutes. The key is that the Chickpeas should be soft, but remain firm.
Drain the Chickpeas, reserve the liquid and discard the tea bags, Bay Leaves, Black Cardamoms and Cloves. The chickpeas should have taken on a dark color from the tea.
Cooking
1. Heat 2 tbsp Oil in a heavy-bottomed pan on a medium flame and add the Carom seeds (Ajwain) and Cumin Seeds (Jeera). TIP: Whenever you are using Cumin seeds, be careful to not let the oil get too hot, otherwise the seeds will burn and turn black and you’ll need to start over again. You can turn the heat up after you’ve added other ingredients.
2. When the seeds start to sizzle, add the Asafetida and half the quantity of the julienned Ginger.
3. Cook the ginger for about a minute and then add the drained Chickpeas, the Kashmiri Red Chili powder, Dried Mango Powder, Pomegranate Seed Powder, Garam Masala and 1/2 tsp Salt to the pan. Mix the chickpeas and the spices well and continue cooking on medium heat.
4. After 2-3 minutes add in the liquid in which the chickpeas had been boiled. If there wasn’t much (or any! yep, that’s happened to me) left over, then add a cup of hot water.
5. Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, add crushed Dried Fenugreek Leaves, mix well and turn the heat off. TIP: If the Dried Fenugreek Leaves are not crispy, you will not be able to crush them into a powder. Toast them on the lowest heat in a pan for about 10-15 seconds, and you should be able to easily crush them to add them to the pan.
Pindi Chana is ready, serve garnished with julienned Ginger and chopped Cilantro.
Curry on!
- 1.5 cups dry (or 3 cups canned) Garbanzo Beans/Chickpeas (Kabuli Chana)
- 2″ piece of Cinnamon Stick
- 2 Black Cardamoms
- 2 Cloves
- 2 Black Tea Bags
- 1-2 Bay leaves
- ½ tsp Carom Seeds (Ajwain)
- 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
- ¼ tsp Asafetida (Hing)
- 1 inch piece of Ginger, julienned
- ½ tsp Kashmiri Red Chili Powder
- 1 tsp Dry Mango Powder (Amchur)
- 1tsp Pomegranate Seed Powder
- 1 tsp Dried Fenugreek Leaves (Qasoori Methi)
- ½ tsp Garam Masala
- 1 tsp Salt (adjust to taste)
- NOTE: The Dried Mango Powder and Pomegranate Seed Powder add sourness to the dish. Feel free to use either or both of them when preparing a chickpeas dish.
- PREPARATION
- Soak the Chickpeas in ample water for at least 6 hours and drain; discard the soaking water. TIP: The chickpeas double in volume after soaking, so be sure to use a big enough bowl and double the quantity of water. So for 1.5 cups of chickpeas, you need at least 3-3.5 cups of water for soaking.
- Boil the Chickpeas for for about 40-45 minutes in 5 cups of water on medium heat with 2 black tea bags, 2″ piece of Cinnamon, Bay leaf and ½ tsp salt until they are soft. Keep an eye on the pot and in case the water starts to dry up, you can add some more hot water. NOTE: If you are starting with canned chickpeas, you need to boil them for a shorter period of time, about 15 minutes. The key is that the Chickpeas should be soft, but remain firm.
- Drain the Chickpeas, reserve the liquid and discard the tea bags, Bay Leaves, Black Cardamoms and Cloves. The chickpeas should have taken on a dark color from the tea.
- COOKING
- Heat 2 tbsp Oil in a heavy-bottomed pan on a medium flame and add the Carom seeds (Ajwain) and Cumin Seeds (Jeera). TIP: Whenever you are using Cumin seeds, be careful to not let the oil get too hot, otherwise the seeds will burn and turn black and you’ll need to start over again. You can turn the heat up after you’ve added other ingredients.
- When the seeds start to sizzle, add the Asafetida and half the quantity of the julienned Ginger.
- Cook the ginger for about a minute and then add the drained Chickpeas, the Kashmiri Red Chili powder, Dried Mango Powder, Pomegranate Seed Powder, Garam Masala and ½ tsp Salt to the pan. Mix the chickpeas and the spices well and continue cooking on medium heat.
- After 2-3 minutes add in the liquid in which the chickpeas had been boiled. If there wasn’t much (or any! yep, that’s happened to me) left over, then add a cup of hot water.
- Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, add crushed Dried Fenugreek Leaves, mix well and turn the heat off. TIP: If the Dried Fenugreek Leaves are not crispy, you will not be able to crush them into a powder. Toast them on the lowest heat in a pan for about 10-15 seconds, and you should be able to easily crush them to add them to the pan.
- Pindi Chana is ready, serve garnished with julienned Ginger and chopped Cilantro.
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