Pindi Chole – Garbanzo Beans in Indian Spices

Pindi Chole – Garbanzo Beans in Indian Spices

During my last few trips to India, one thing that I always eat is "Pindi Chole with Kulcha".
It's like a perfect goto snack/meal or just a "oh I wanna eat something nice" kinda dish bursting with a slight sour/tart flavor....It's easy to prepare and is slightly different from the regular "chole curry" as this doesn't need any onion-tomato and is mostly dry.
The only thing I do extra is roast 3 essential ingredients mainly "Anardana(Pomegranate), Shahi Jeera(Black Cumin) & Ajwain(Carom Seed) to give this dish a unique flavor.

Serves: 4-6 People

Serving Suggestion: Serve hot with Indian Roti/Kulcha/Bhatura, Plain Bread or Rice or Eat as Appetizer

Tools:

1 Large Pressure Cooker

1 Large Non-Stick Pan/Wok with lid

Dry Spice Grinder or Mortar-Pestle

Serving Dish / Plate

Ingredients:

2 Cups Raw Garbanzo Beans

4 Cups Water

3 Black Tea Bags – (To give the black or dark brown color to the beans)

1 ½ Tbsp Ginger+Garlic Paste

2-3 Thinly Chopped Green Chilies - (Please add this ingredient as per taste)

½ Cup Water

4 Tbsp Olive Oil - (You may use any flavorless oil)

1 Thinly Sliced Onion – (For Garnishing)

Indian Spices: To be Roasted

2 Bay Leaf (Tej Patta)

¼ Cinnamon Stick (Dalchini)

3 Whole Green Cardamom (Choti Elaichi)

5 Whole Black Pepper (Kali Mirch)

Whole Spices:

1 Tbsp Black Cumin (Shahi Jeera)

½ Tsp Carrom Seeds(Ajwain)

1 Tbsp Dry Pomegranate Seeds(Anardana)

Powdered Spices:

Cumin Powder (Jeera) – ½ Tbsp

Coriander Powder (Dhaniya) – 1 Tbsp

Garam Masala Powder – ½ Tbsp

Dry Mango Powder(Amchur)  – 1Tbsp

Red Chili Powder – 1Tbsp (Please use chili powder as per taste)

Salt – As per taste

Method:

Note: Garbanzo Beans(Chole) needs to be soaked overnight or for atleast 5-6 hrs (Till they puff up) in water. 

• Put the pre-soaked garbanzo beans and 3tea bags in pressure cooker and cook till you hear 3-4 steams or till the beans are cooked.

• Drain water from the cooked beans and keep aside.(I usually throw away this water as it tastes really sour because of black tea bags)

• In a wok on medium flame, dry roast the whole spices till they turn slightly brown (2-3min) and grind to a fine powder.

• Heat oil in the wok, add ginger+garlic paste and sauté for 1min.

• Now add green chili along with bay leaf, green cardamom and black pepper.

• Add the roasted powdered spices along with all the other powdered spices and sauté for 2min.

• Now add the cooked beans to wok, sauté well and cook covered for 5-7min.

• Add the ½ cup water, sauté and cook till the water is absorbed (4-5min).

• Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with sliced onion, green chili and serve hot.