Ingredients
For Soaking
- ▢0.75 cup black chickpeas (kala chana) – 172 grams
- ▢1.88 cups water – for soaking
Other Ingredients
- ▢1.5 tablespoons oil or ghee (clarified butter)
- ▢0.75 teaspoon cumin seeds
- ▢0.38 cup finely chopped onions – 63 grams or 1 medium-sized
- ▢0.94 cups finely chopped tomatoes – 185 grams or 2 medium-sized
- ▢0.75 teaspoon finely chopped garlic – 4 to 5 small to medium-sized garlic cloves
- ▢0.75 teaspoon finely chopped green chillies or serrano pepper or 1 to 2 green chillies
- ▢0.75 teaspoon finely chopped ginger or 1 inch ginger
- ▢0.75 teaspoon kashmiri red chilli powder or ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ▢0.19 teaspoon turmeric powder (ground turmeric)
- ▢0.75 teaspoon Coriander Powder (ground coriander)
- ▢0.75 pinch asafetida (hing) – optional
- ▢1.13 cups water or as required
- ▢salt as required
- ▢0.38 teaspoon Garam Masala Powder or Punjabi garam masala
- ▢0.75 to 1.5 tablespoons choppped coriander leaves – optional
Instructions Soaking Black Chickpeas
- Rinse black chickpeas for a couple of times in water.
- In a large enough bowl, take 2.5 cups water and soak the black chickpeas or kala chana in it overnight or for 8 to 9 hours.
- Drain the water. Using a colander or strainer, rinse the soaked chickpeas in water for a couple of times and set aside.
Making Kala Chana
- In a 3 litre pressure cooker, add 2 tablespoon oil or ghee. Reduce the heat to a low.
- Add cumin seeds. Let them crackle and then add finely chopped onions.
- Sauté onions till they become light golden on a medium-low to medium heat. Again reduce the heat to a low.
- Add finely chopped garlic, green chilli, ginger and sauté for 10 to 12 seconds or until the raw aroma of garlic and ginger goes away.
- Add finely chopped tomatoes and sauté them on a medium-low heat until the oil starts leaving from the sides of the onion-tomato masala. The tomatoes should soften and become pulpy.
- Swap fresh tomatoes with tomato puree or canned tomatoes. Crush the canned tomatoes before you add them. For tomato puree, add about ½ cup + 2 tablespoons of it.
- Add turmeric powder, asafoetida, coriander powder, kashmiri red chili powder and sauté for a minute on low heat.
- Then add the soaked black chickpeas and water. Season with salt and mix well.
- Pressure cook chana on a medium heat for 10 to 11 minutes or 10 to 12 whistles until the chickpeas are cooked tender and softened well. If they have a hard center or are undercooked, pressure cook further for 5 minutes.
- Lastly sprinkle the curry with garam masala and coriander leaves. If you like, garnish punjabi kala chana gravy with coriander leaves.
- Serve the black chickpeas gravy with steamed rice, roti.
