Description: This dish is a Punjabi style chickpea curry which brings flavour of Amritsar street food right into your home. It is full of flavours and spices which makes it for a perfect weekend dish as it not only breaks the dreariness of simple weekday food but is also a great source for protein, especially for vegetarians. The difference here from the normal chickpea curry is the freshly ground spices and tea bag (yes, you read it right!) for that dark colour in the curry.

Ingredients:

• 450 grams Chickpeas dried (Can also use canned chickpeas)
• 3 big onions – chopped finely/paste
• 3 tomatoes – blended into paste
• 2 tablespoon coriander cumin powder
• 2 tbsp chole masala powder (For a batch, use 1.5 tbsp coriander seeds, 1/2 tbsp cumin seeds, 1 tbsp dry pomegranate seeds, 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds, 5-6 dry red chillies, 4-5 cloves, 5-6 black peppercorn, 1 black cardamom, 1/2 inch cinnamon)
• 2 tablespoon oil
• 2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder

Note: All the spices can be adjusted as per taste.

• 1 tea bag
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 green cardamom
• 2 black cardamom
• 1 inch cinnamon
• 3 cloves

Servings 4-6 portions

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Instructions

Wash and soak chickpeas overnight. Discard water and pressure cook the chickpeas in 5-6 cups of water for 20 minutes along with a tea bag, 1 tsp salt, bay leaves, green cardamom, black cardamom, cinnamon and cloves.

Dry roast chole masala for 2-3 minutes or until fragrant and then grind it into a coarse powder.

Take 2 tbsp of oil in a thick bottomed pan and add ginger garlic paste to the pan. Cook it for about a minute and then add roasted chole masala, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander cumin powder and sauté for around 20 seconds on low flame.

Add onion paste or chopped onions to the pan. Saute until onions become brown, which will take around 10 minutes on medium heat and add tomato paste and salt as per taste. Cover and cook tomatoes and onion mixture for 15-20 minutes or until oil splits from the mixture.

Add boiled chickpeas and keep mashing some of them along the way (It helps to thicken the gravy).

Finally add all the boiled water from the chick peas to the pan and let the chole/chick peas simmer for 10 minutes or so until gravy is of the right consistency.

Add garam masala, mix well. Take it off the heat, garnish with some ginger juliennes and serve hot chickpea curry with your favourite bread, pickle and cumin rice.