Chole

A simple yet mouth watering dish that goes well with chaptis, puri, bread and rice. Its a good accompaniment for any meal. At the same time its also one of those preparations that require a little extra preparation! The chick peas need to be soaked in advance overnight to ensure they boil well.

You will need (for 4 persons):

Chick peas – 2 cups (soaked overnight)

2 medium sized onions chopped

1 and half cup tomato puree/ 2 tomatoes finely chopped

1 tablespoon oil

Chole masala (Everest) 2 teaspoons

Coriander powder 1 teaspoon

Red chilly powder 1 teaspoon

Ginger garlic paste 1&1/2 teaspoon

Kasuri methi/dried fenugreek leaves 1 teaspoon crushed

Amchur powder 3/4teaspoon (limejuice/chaat masala powder will also do)

Honey 1 teaspoon

Let's cook...

I do the entire process in a pressure cooker. This way I don't need to cook the chana separately and the gravy blends really well and one can't tell onion from tomato! But remember place the lid and weight only when instructed!!

Pour some oil in a pressure cooker and let it heat up. Now saute the onions with a little salt till they are soft. Add ginger garlic paste, then the tomatoes. Mix well and add all the masalas (chilly, coriander, chole, amchur powders) and chole. Mix again and after about 2 minutes take some kasuri methi, crush it between your palms and add to the gravy. Finally the honey! Add enough water to cover the chana, approximately 3 cups. This is the time when we put the lid of the cooker and let it cook by itself on medium heat. The cooking time will differ depending on the type of cooker you are using and amount of chana. For this quantity it would take around 20 minutes.

Please take extra care to ensure that the lid and weight have been placed correctly. Open the lid only after all the steam has cooled.

All one needs to do now is check if the salt is enough and then... ATTACK!! :D