PUNJABI CHANA MASALA/ CHICK PEAS CURRY

Ingredients – Serves 4-5

2 cups of chick peas

2 medium size onions (finely chopped)

3 tomatoes (finely chopped)

1 inch piece ginger

5-6 cloves of garlic

2 green chillies (optional)

1 tsp cumin

1 ½ tsp coriander powder

2 tsp chana masala

¼ tsp garam masala

2 tbsp oil

2 tsp mango powder

Salt according to taste

2 tbsps fresh coriander leaves (finely chopped)

Wash chick peas and soak them overnight. In the morning, give it a thorough rinse and boil them in the pressure cooker with enough water and salt for 15 mins. Also add 1 tea bag (black tea) to the pressure cooker. It will give a nice dark color to the chick peas. After the chick peas are boiled, discard the tea bag.

In a pan, add oil. When the oil becomes hot, add cumin seeds. Now add onions. Saute the onions till the color changes to pink. Now add coriander powder, ginger and garlic paste, saute for half a minute. Add tomatoes and cook till the tomatoes become soft. Let it cool and then blend it in the mixer. Now add this to the boiled chick peas in the pressure cooker. Add chana masala and mango powder. Pressure cook it for 5 more minutes.  In the end, add garam masala. Garnish it with fresh coriander leaves. 

Note: If you don’t have mango powder, you can add 1 tsp tamarind paste. Or after it is cooked, add juice of 1 lemon in the end.

I buy chana masala readymade from India. But if you don’t have it, you can make your own. Take 5-6 black cardamoms, 1 inch cinnamon stick, 1 ½ tsp cumin seeds, 1 ½ tsp coriander seeds, 1-2 dry red chillies, 5-6 peppercorns, 3 cloves, 1 bay leaf. (You can also use 1 ½ tsp coriander powder in place of coriander seeds. If using coriander powder, add it after you dry roast all the other spices.) Dry roast all the spices on moderate heat. Keep on tossing them or they may get burnt. Roast them till they become brown and fragrant. Cool and grind them into fine powder.