soaking and cooking chole or chana: 1.rinse and soak the chole (chickpeas) in enough water overnight. add enough amount of water as the chole increase in size after soaking it. rinse the soaked chickpeas.
2. to give a dark color to the chana, traditionally dried amla (indian gooseberries) are added. these also give a faint sourness to the stock. if you do not have dried amla, then add 1 black tea bag. you can also just cook the chickpeas with salt and water.
3. in a pressure cooker add the chole along with the 2 to 3 dried amla pieces or a tea bag. taj tea bags work very well. then pour 2.5 to 3 cups water.
4. season with ½ tsp salt. stir very well.
5. pressure cook the chana for 12 to 15 whistles. the chana should be cooked well an softened. the chole should be soft when you mash it with a spoon. the chana should not give you a bite when you eat it. if you do not have a pressure cooker, then cook the chickpeas in a pot with plenty of water. depending on the quality of chana, it can take less or more time.
making chana masala powder: 6. meanwhile, in a pan, take all the whole spices for the chole masala and on a low heat begin to roast them. the spices used for masala are following: 2 black cardamoms/elaichi 1 inch cinnamon/dalchini 3 to 4 peppercorns/sabut kali mirch 2 cloves/lavang 1 medium indian bay leaf/tej patta or 2 small tej patta ¼ tsp carom seeds/ajwain 1 tsp cumin seeds/jeera 1 tsp coriander seeds/dhania 1 tsp fennel seeds/saunf ½ tsp dry pomegranate seeds/anardana 1 or 2 dry red chilies
7. stir often and roast the spices till they get extra browned. don’t burn them. you have to go beyond a point roasting them, even after they become fragrant and they get more browned than what is the norm usually.
8. the extra browned & roasted chana masala spices below.
9. let these roasted spices cool and then grind them finely in a coffee grinder or in a dry grinder.
10. by now the chana is cooked. pic below. you will see a darker brown shade in the safed (white chana) or chickpeas. remove the amla pieces which would have softened by now or the tea bag from the stock.
making punjabi chana masala gravy: 11. heat 1.5 to 2 tbsp oil in a pan or kadai. add ½ tsp ginger-garlic paste and saute till their raw aroma goes away.
12. then add 1 medium sized finely chopped onion and saute till the onions turn translucent or light brown.
13. add 1 medium sized finely chopped tomato.
14. saute the tomatoes till they soften and the oil starts to leave the sides of the masala.
15. then add the powdered spices that we made, along with ½ tsp red chili powder and ¼ tsp turmeric powder.
16. stir well. then add 2 to 3 slit green chilies to the onion-ginger-tomato mixture.
17. add the cooked & drained chole. reserve the stock.
stir well.
19. season with salt as per requirement. stir. keep the addition of salt in check as salt is also there in the stock.
20. add about 1 to 1.25 cups of the reserved stock or water. stir well.
21. cover the chole masala and simmer on a low to medium flame. you can also cook chole without the lid. the chole masala gravy will thicken and reduce. mash a few chana. this will help thicken the chana masala gravy. you can keep the consistency you prefer. at home we prefer the chole with a bit of gravy.
22. in case, you have not added dry pomegranate seeds while roasting the spices, then you need to add amchur powder (dry mango powder) now. about 1 tsp amchur powder is enough. however, you can add less or more of it as per your taste. stir chana masala gravy very well.
23. the chana masala ready to be served.
24. garnish punjabi chole asala with chopped onions and coriander leaves.
1.white chickpeas (garbanzo beans, kabuli chana or safed chole) 2.dried amla(OR indian gooseberry or 1 black tea bag, optional) 3.garlic cloves and ginger crushed to a paste in a mortar-pestle or ½ tsp ginger-garlic paste 4.amchur powder(dry mango powder)optional and only to be added when you do not have dry pomegranate seeds 5.water(or the stock in which the chickpeas were cooked) 6.tej patta(indian bay leaf) or 2 small tej patta RECIPE NOTES tips for making punjabi chana masala recipe: 1.if you don't have amchur or dried pomegranate seeds then add lime or lemon juice toward the end. 2.you can also use canned chickpeas and add them once the tomatoes are sauteed. if cooking chole in the pan or pot then: 1.you have to take enough water in the pot while cooking the chole. it takes a lot of time though. for 1.5 to 2 cups of soaked & drained chole, you can take about 5-6 cups of water. 2.adding a pinch of baking soda in the water along with salt, also helps in the cooking process and the chana become really soft when cooked. 3.you can add about 1 tsp of salt. a little less salt is also alright. i usually add less salt. 4.cover the pot and cook the chana. if the water starts to become frothy, then remove the lid and cook chana for some minutes. remove the scum if there is any while cooking the chana.