Pindi Chhole

This hearty, healthy and delicious dish is from Punjab, India. I initially thought that the name comes from the word Pind used for village in Punjabi. But, actually the name of the dish is from the place it was originated from. It is named Pindi Chana after the town Rawalpindi, which used to be a part of Punjab before India-Pakistan partition and later became a part of Pakistan. Pindi chhole is a recipe from Rawalpindi and now is proudly cooked everywhere and popularly known as Pindi Chhole.

This recipe is easy to cook, it makes for a wholesome meal when served with poori or Kulcha or Naan and an onion salad. Pindi Chana can be made with dried chickpeas, which needs to be soaked overnight and boiled until soft. The recipe also requires the use of chana daal along with chickpeas. I usually soak a large amount of chickpeas and boil them as well. I usually then divide them into smaller packs and keep them in the freezer for future use.

I never realized till I was much older that there were so many different ways of making chhole. I felt every family had there own version of making chhole, like with my Punjabi friends, their moms made chhole that didn’t have a lot of gravy and usually were a little dark in color and didn’t have too many tomatoes either. Where as, my mom always had her own version of making chhole with yogurt. The chhole recipe I follow is from a family friend and I make my chhole using tamarind, tomatoes and fennel seeds. And, then one day I came across Pindi chhole made by a close family friend and loved the flavors. This is when I found out that in most Punjabi families, people tend to boil chhole with whole spices and tea leaves which tends to darken the color of the chhole. Punjabi food anyways uses a lot of whole spice in their dishes and there always seems to be a very strong taste of cloves and cinnamon in their cuisine.

All in all this is one awesome chhole recipe. It goes really well with poori or parantha or kulcha. I serve them for breakfast usually with sooji ka halwa on the side, but that can always be when you have friends over or if its a special occasion, but these chhole with poori can definitely make it to your weekend brunch table. Enjoy!!!

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Pindi Chhole
Chickpeas cooked in gravy
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Cuisine Indian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Cuisine Indian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Votes: 0
Rating: 0
You:
Rate this recipe!
Instructions
  1. Boil the soaked chickpeas with chana daal and a tea bag until the chickpeas are soft. Add a little salt and turmeric to the water as well.
  2. The chickpeas would appear slightly darker in color because of the tea bag.
  3. Add ghee to a pan and add the green chilies. Saute for a few seconds.
  4. Add baby leaf, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves. Saute for 15 seconds and add Ginger garlic paste.
  5. Once the raw smell of ginger garlic paste vanishes, add the pureed onions. Cook for around 5-7 minutes until it turns light brown in color.
  6. Add the Red chili powder, Turmeric powder, salt, garam masala, cumin powder, fennel powder, Amchur powder and Coriander powder. Saute and mix well. Add a little water if it looks too dry and cook for 2-3 minutes till the masala releases oil.
  7. Add the Tomato puree and mix well.
  8. Add the boiled chick peas.
  9. Add a cup of water and coriander leaves. Cook till everything blends well the curry reaches its desired consistency.
  10. Serve with Poori or Kulcha.

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