Punjabi Chole - Channa Masala

Chole is a popular North Indian vegetarian curry made of Garbanzo beans, cooked with onions and tomatoes. Its usually served with white rice, roti, puri, naan or bhatura Its a good source of protein. I can just eat the chole by itself, very chatpata and yummy.

Soaking time: 8 hrs
Preparation time: 40 min
Serving : 4 people

Ingredients for pressure cooking

1 cup Garbanzo Beans or white chickpeas or kabuli channa or chole
3 cups of water
1/2 tsp salt

Ingredients for gravy

2 medium size Tomato cut to small pieces
1 medium onions finely chopped
¼ Tsp Turmeric Powder
1/2 inch piece ginger
3 garlic pods
1 tsp Coriander powder
1/2 tsp Jeera powder
1/2 Tbsp dry mango powder or amchur powder (optional)
1 Tbsp Chole or channa masala ( I used Everest brand)
1/2 Tbsp salt (or to taste)
½ Tbsp mustard seeds

1 1/2 Tbs Oil
coriander leaves to garnish

Procedure

1. Rinse and soak the garbanzo beans for 8-9 hours or overnight
2. Wash the soaked beans and pressure cook for 7-8 whistles on high
3. Heat a pan on medium high and add 1 Tbs oil
4. Add the mustard seeds and when they splutter add the onions and saute till transparent
5. Add the ginger and garlic and saute for a minute
6. Add the tomatoes, coriander powder, jeera powder and cook till the tomatoes are soft and all mussy about 5-8 minutes
7. Let this mixture cool down and blend into a smooth paste
8. In a pan add heat 1/2 Tsp oil, add the mustard seeds when they splutter mix the tomato onion paste
9. Now add the pressure cooked beans and also add some of the water they were cooked into the gravy
10. Cover and cook for 25-30 minutes on low flame
11. Add the chole masala mix together
12. Garnish with coriander leaves
13. Serve hot with a side of onions and lemon

You can use canned grabanzo beans, they also work good and it is easy on a busy day when we do not have time to soak and pressure cook. ( one 16 oz can for the above recipe)