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Chickpea Curry Recipe
Ingredients
For soaking & pressure cooking chickpeas
- 1 cup dried white chickpeas (kabuli chana or safed chana) – 180 grams
- 3 cups water – for soaking
- 3 cups water – for pressure cooking
- ½ teaspoon salt
For toasting or roasting spices
- ½ cup fresh grated coconut – tightly-packed
- 1 inch cinnamon
- ½ tablespoon fennel seeds
- ½ tablespoon cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 2 dry red chilies or 3 to 4 chillies – would make the dish spicy. remove the seeds.
- 2 to 3 cloves
- 1 black cardamom
- 2 green cardamoms
- 4 to 5 black peppercorns
- 1 small piece stone flower (dagad phool, pathar phool), optional
Other ingredients to make curry
- 3 tablespoons oil
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 tej patta (Indian bay leaf), small-sized
- ⅓ cup onions – finely chopped, 50 grams or 1 medium-sized
- 1 teaspoon Ginger Garlic Paste or 2 to 3 small to medium, peeled garlic cloves and ½ inch peeled ginger crushed or made into a paste in mortar-pestle
- ¼ or ½ teaspoon turmeric powder (ground turmeric)
- 1 pinch asafoetida (hing), optional
- 10 to 12 curry leaves
- ½ cup tomatoes – finely chopped, 80 grams or 1 medium-sized
- 1 cup water or add as required
- 1 green chilli – slit
- 2 tablespoons coriander leaves (cilantro) – chopped, for garnish
- salt as required
Instructions
Cooking chickpeas
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First rinse the dried chickpeas for a couple of times in water. Then soak the chickpeas in 3 cups of water overnight or for 8 to 9 hours.
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Drain the water. Rinse the chickpeas again for a couple of times.
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Again drain all the water and add the soaked chickpeas in a 3 litre stovetop pressure cooker.
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Add ½ teaspoon salt and 3 cups water. Stir to mix.
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Pressure cook the chickpeas for 20 to 22 minutes or 18 to 20 whistles on medium to high heat.
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If cooking chickpeas in a pot, then add about 3.5 to 4 cups water and salt to the chickpeas. Cover and cook the chickpeas till they softened.
Making curry paste
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When the chickpeas are cooking, you can roast or toast the spices. Gather all the spices you will need and set them aside.
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In a pan or skillet, on a low heat dry roast the spices except coconut – listed under the “toasting or roasting the spices” heading above, till they become fragrant.
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Take care not to burn them, so roast them on low heat and stir often.
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Remember to roast all spices except coconut.
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Once the spices smell fragrant, add the fresh grated coconut to the spices and begin to roast or toast on low heat.
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Note you could use either fresh grated coconut or frozen shredded coconut and even ⅓ cup of unsweetened shredded or desiccated coconut.
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Stir continuously while roasting the coconut, so that there is uniform and even cooking.
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Roast till the coconut become golden. Remove the pan from the stovetop allow the this mixture to cool at room temperature.
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Once the coconut-spice mixture is cooled, add them to a high-speed blender or mixer-grinder.
Make a note to remove the husks from the black cardamom and just add its seeds in the blender or grinder.
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Add ⅔ to ¾ cup water and grind to a smooth and fine consistency making sure the curry paste does not have any small chunks or bits of the spices and coconut.
Making chickpea curry
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Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a pan. Keep heat to a low or medium-low.
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Add the mustard seeds and allow them to crackle. Then add tejpatta and stir.
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Next add the finely chopped onions. Stir and sauté on low to medium heat till the onions turn translucent and soften.
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Add ginger-garlic paste, turmeric power, asafoetida and curry leaves.
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Stir and sauté for a few seconds on low heat till the raw aroma of ginger-garlic goes away.
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Add the chopped tomatoes. Sauté on a low to medium heat, for about 2 to 3 minutes till the tomatoes soften.
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Add the ground coconut and spices curry paste. Stir very well to combine.
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Then add the drained and cooked chickpeas. Stir again well and saute for a minute.
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Now add 1 cup of water and 1 or 2 slit green chilies.
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Season with salt as required.
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Give a boil first and then simmer the curry for 10 to 15 minutes on a low to medium heat or till the gravy thickens a bit and you see some oil floating on top.
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Mash a few chickpeas with the sides of the spoon to thicken the gravy. Check the seasonings and add more salt if you prefer.
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Switch off the heat. Lastly add chopped coriander leaves. Stir well.
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Serve Chickpea Curry hot with chapati, poori, bread or steamed rice accompanied with lemon wedges and thin onion slices or a side of vegetable salad.