Panjabi Chole with a twist, chick pea curry with a secret ingredient. Kids and picky eaters will never know!
Everyone loves Panjabi Chole, famous and served in most roadside dhabas and restaurants across Indian subcontinent. Most commonly served with Bhatura’s, but just as great with naan, roti or simple white rice. Chick peas in a tomato onion gravy with its darker brown curry color, flavored with whole warm spices. A great vegetarian option. We all love the traditional Panjabi Chole, but this is Panjabi Chole with a twist, so what’s the twist? Keep reading….
In this recipe I have hidden another key ingredient…a vegetable…eggplant! Yes eggplant! Roasted eggplant is mashed and added to the gravy to thicken it up. Kids typically love Chole but not many like eggplant, so this is an easy way to hide the eggplant. We are not big eggplant fans, so hiding it in this gravy is a great trick to get some veggies in. They will never know it was there, trust me -try it and see for yourself.
Because this is for beginners, I am using some one big time saver which is canned chick peas. You can use dry chick peas, but will take longer to cook. Canned chick peas is a great pantry staple to keep on hand. Black tea is used to give it the traditional darker color, although the taste is not noticeable at all.
Makes 3-4 servings
Time: 50 mins
Ingredients:
- 1 can of Garbanzo beans/chick peas/chana, drain out the canned liquid and rinse thoroughly. Or 1 1/2 cups of dry chana, soaked for 4-8 hours.
- Eggplant enough to yield approx 1 cup of cooked mashed eggplant. Medium sized larger one works or 4 small ones.
- 1 cup small diced white onion
- 1 cup canned crushed tomato or 1 1/2 cup fresh tomatoes blended into a paste
- 1 tsp of ginger garlic paste
- 1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
- 1 cinnamon stick (taj)
- 5-6 whole Black peppercorn (miri)
- 4 whole cloves (lavang)
- 1 elcho or 3 green cardamom (elaichi)
- 1 bay leaf
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
- 1 tsp chana masala (I like MDH brand)
- 1 tsp cumin coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp red chili powder or 1 fresh green chili slit in half
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 black tea bag (masala flavored tea would be even better if you have it)
- 3 cups water
- Chopped coriander leaves for garnish
Method:
- Take the eggplant, prick holes in it all around with a fork. Roast the whole eggplant in the oven for 40 mins till it is softened. Peel the skin off, grind it to a paste using blender. Set aside.
- In a pot add the drained chana, water, whole spices (except jeera) and tea bag. Boil on Medium heat for 15-30 mins till raw ones are fully cooked and taken on the darker brown color from the tea bag. For raw ones you can use pressure cooker to make it cook faster.
- Find and discard the whole spices as many as you can find along with the tea bag. If you have a muslin cloth you can use it to make a small bundle so its easier to remove at the end. There should be about 1 cup of water left.
- In a pan on medium heat, add oil, cumin seeds, green chili and heat till they splutter, approximately 2 mins.
- Add onion, stir fry till lightly golden, approximately 4 mins.
- Add ginger garlic paste, stir fry for 30 secs
- Add tomatoes and all the powder spices along with salt. Stir together.
- Add in the chana and its water, eggplant mash and stir well. Cover and cook for 10 mins. Add water if you would like the consistency thinner.
- Garnish with chopped coriander leaves, serve hot and Enjoy!
Tips:
- This curry stays great in the fridge for a few days. It also freezes well, make extra and save a batch for next time.
- It may look like a lot of spices, but they are all the standard ones used in Indian cooking. Check out ideas on which spices to keep on hand and how to organize your Masala Dabba.