Nani ke Pindi Chole (Chickpeas soaked in spices, my grandmother's style)

This recipe belongs to my Nani. It is full of flavor and tastes even better the next day after the chickpeas have soaked in all the flavor of the spices. Apart from the fact that these are delicious, I love making chole this way as it is also a quick recipe if you have the spices ready. I usually roast and grind the spices and keep in in an airtight container to use it whenever I need to. All you have to do is boil the chickpeas and mix in the masala. These chole taste the best with bhature or deep fried bread but I wanted to keep the meal healthy and so I served it with pita bread, greek yogurt and raw onions.





Here is the recipe........

Ingredients:
250 grams chickpeas
1 teaspoon thinly sliced ginger
2-3 black cardamom
1 bay leaf
half teaspoon asafetida/hing

Spices to be dry roasted
1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
half inch cinnamon stick
2-3 cloves
1 tablespoon dry pomegranate/anardana

Other spices to be mixed in
1 teaspoon garam masala/chana masala
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
2 teaspoons dry mango powder/amchur
1 teaspoon black salt
1 teaspoon black pepper powder

2 tablespoons oil for cooking and salt according to taste

Method:

1.      Soak the chickpeas overnight. I soaked them longer so they got little sprouts too.

2.      Boil the chickpeas with salt, black cardamom and bay leaf.

3.      Prepare the masala/spices by dry roasting cumin seeds/jeera, coriander seeds/dhania, dry pomegranate seeds/anardana and cinnamon/dalchini.

4.      Grind the roasted spices in a coffee grinder and mix the other dry spices in it (red chilli powder, dry mango/amchoor powder, garam masala and/or chana masala, black pepper powder and black salt.

5.      Sprinkle all the masala on top of the cooked chickpeas.

6.      Heat two-tablespoon oil drop in thinly sliced ginger and asafetida/hing powder and pour it over the chickpeas. Mix everything well. Taste for salt and adjust accordingly. If the gravy is too thick, add a little water, although it should be on the thicker side.

7.      Before serving, add chopped cilantro and juice of lemon.

Traditionally this is served with bhature and a side of raw onion, green chillies and maybe some pickle. However, since I decided to avoid the fried bhature I served it with pita chips and yogurt and it was equally delicious.