Pindi Chole / Tangy Spicy Chickpea Recipe From Punjabi Cuisine

                   

Pindi chole a popular vegetarian dish from the Punjabi Cuisine. This dish originates from Rawalpindi in Punjab where Pindi means small village and hence the name of the dish. This is one of the easiest chana dish and a flavorful variation of versatile chickpeas (chole) , where the cooked chickpeas are coated very lightly with the gravy , so basically it is a dry dish. Pindi chole involves no chopping and grinding so saves lots of time and is an onion-garlic free recipe . Tea leaves used in this recipe give the dish its rich colour and dry pomegranate seeds along with dry mango powder give the desired sourness to the dish. Makes perfect side dish for poori , bhatura or naan or you can just enjoy it as a spicy tangy chaat for snacks!

Chickpeas or garbanzo beans can be used in salads, soups, curries, cutlets and stews. Apart from their versatility, chickpeas have many health benefits. They are high in fibre and protein and they help in cholesterol and weight reduction. I try to include chole  at least once every week in our diet either as salad or in the form of curries. So i have a batch of soaked or boiled chana ready at hand in the refrigerator most of the times. As this pindi chole recipe is quick to make with no chopping of onions and to tomatoes and no long sauteing , this recipe comes to a rescue when you have sudden guest. I prefer to make this on Mondays to open our fast as it is satvik (onion-garlic free). If you are looking for some more curry recipes which are onion-garlic free, check out the following links from this blog by clicking on the highlighted words. Kashmiri Dum Aloo, Vegetable Korma, Odia Dalma,Aloo Posto, Khoya Mutter Makhana, Panchmel Dal, Kaddu Ki Sabzi Broccoli Stir Fry , Bitter melon stir fry .

I am sharing this post with a Facebook group, Foodies_RedoingOldPost which i have recently joined. This group is an initiative my my friend and fellow blogger Renu who blogs at Cookwithrenu. In this group, bloggers update their old posts with new pics or contents every 2 weeks. I loved this concept, as bloggers we grow each day, our photography gets better and when we revisit our old post, we feel the photography could be better. Also many a times we make changes in our recipe which needs to be updated. I have many such posts which need to be updated and hope this group gives me the needed motivation for it. This is my first entry in this event (14th June 2019). I have updated this pindi chole post with both new pictures and the content.  Hope you all like it. So let's get started.

Preparation Time: 8 hours
Cooking Time: 25 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients for Pindi Chole

• 1 cup kabuli chana (white chickpeas / garbanzo beans)
• 1 tsp ginger, grated 
• 1 tsp carom seeds (Ajwain)
• 1 tsp cumin Seeds (Jeera) + 1 tsp pomegranate seeds (roast and grind to powder)
• 1 tsp caraway seeds (Shah jeera)
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp dry mango powder(Aamchur powder)
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 2  black cardamom ( badi elaichi)
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• 2 bay leaves( Tej patta)
• 2 cloves
• 1 star anise
• 2 tsp tea powder/tea bags
• 2 tablespoon ghee
• 1 tsp red chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
• Salt to taste
• 2  tablespoon fresh coriander leaves, chopped

Method:

1. Rinse and soak the Kabuli chana (white chickpeas)  for 7-8 hrs in enough water. Next day drain the chickpeas,discard the water and rinse the chole again with clean water. 

  2. Transfer the soaked chickpeas to a pressure cooker with 2 cups of  water, 2 tea bags, 1 bay leaf, cloves, black cardamom, cinnamon, star anise, salt, and soda. Cover it with a lid and pressure cook for 3 whistles. Allow pressure to release, discard tea bag and whole spices. Drain chickpeas and reserve the water.

3. In a pan heat ghee and add 1 bay leaf, carom seeds, caraway seeds, grated ginger and saute till golden brown.

4. Add the boiled chickpeas to it and saute for 1 minute. Next add the spice powders ( turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, dry mango powder, roasted cumin, pomegranate powder). Mix everything very well and saute for another 1 minute.

5. Next add the reserved water from step 2 and salt. Give a quick stir and bring it to a boil. Simmer on medium flame until you see the ghee floating on the top.

6. Cook further for another 2-3 minutes or until all the liquid dries up . Lastly garnish with finely chopped fresh coriander leaves and put off the flame. Delicious Pindi chole is ready to serve. Squeeze lemon juice over the chole and serve with poori, naan or bhature.

Recipe Notes:

• You can prepare this dish with black chickpeas also.
• I have not added Chole masala in this recipe, you may add 1 tsp of it, if you wish.
• If you do not have pomegranate seeds or amchur powder, you may add 1-2 tablespoon Khajur Imli Chutney / dates and Tamarind Chutney to give the dish its required sourness.
• You may replace ghee with oil for a vegan version of this dish, however i would recommend not skipping ghee for the authentic taste.
• If you do not have shah jeera ( caraway seeds) you may replace it with cumin seeds.

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If you are looking for more Punjabi Recipes, check out the following from this blog

• Punjabi Kadhi Pakora

                            

• Dal Makhani

                           

• Achari Aloo

                          

• Sarson Ka Saag

                          

• Methi Matar Malai

                         

• Achari Baingan

                                

• Amritsari Aloo Kulcha