Also known as “chikad chole” or “chikar chole” which translates to “muddled chick peas”.
Don’t be intimidated by the long list of ingredients. If you cook desi food often, you likely already have them all on hand. I’ve broken the process down into its simple, individual components for the sake of clarity.
Because this is a recipe that uses interesting techniques, I highly recommend reading through the whole post before getting started.
Credits
Recipe adapted from Flavour of Desi Food. Watch the video linked to see the process and also if you’re confused on any particulars (like, “how much is 3 pieces of cinnamon?”). I’ve adapted the recipe from her, so there are some small changes, but the video is an excellent resource regardless.
Shoutout to user farzadalirdofficerscci4689 who dropped the written recipe in the comments. You a real one.
ingredients
| amount | ingredient |
|---|---|
| 500g | chickpeas, dry |
| 1 tsp | baking soda |
| 1 tsp | salt* |
| 110g | oil |
| 1 T | ginger garlic paste |
| 1 small | onion |
| 1 tsp | salt* |
| 1 tsp | cayenne |
| 1 tsp | chili flakes |
| 1 tsp | turmeric |
| 1 tsp | black pepper |
| 1 small | potato |
| ~½ cup | water |
| 3 pieces | cinnamon |
| 3 | black cardamom |
| 1 tsp | cumin powder |
| 1 tsp | coriander powder |
| 1 tsp | chole powder** |
| 1 | chicken bouillon cube |
| 1 tsp | amchur powder |
| 115g | yogurt, whole milk (dahi) |
| 3 cups | chickpea cooking liquid (aqafaba)** |
| 1 tsp | dried fenugreek (kasuri methi) |
| 1 | jalapeño, thin sliced |
| to taste | cilantro, fresh |
**see notes
Onion paste
Making the onion paste is easy: just blend 1 small onion into a smooth paste. I used a mini food processor that came with my stick blender, but you could use a stick blender, regular blender, or even a spice grinder.
I used a mix of red and yellow onions, but feel free to use whatever you have on hand.
Thickening paste
Boil the small potato until fork tender. Since this will be blended up, I did not bother to peel the potato (and I like potato peels, anyhow, so why do more work?). I just cut out any suspicious areas or eyes in it and set it to boil. Once done, let cool. You can cut it into a few pieces to help speed up the process.
To the potato, add a ½ cup of cooked chickpeas, and the ~½ cup of water. Blend until a smooth paste forms. I used the same mini food processor from the onion paste.
Naturally, because it uses some of the cooked chickpeas, this thickening paste must be made after the chickpeas are cooked, so it can’t be prepared ahead of time.
Spices
Everything was made easier by portioning out my spices ahead of time since the flavors are layered in different stages. I prepped as many things ahead as I could, particularly the dry ingredients so that I wasn’t worried about measuring or missing something during the cook.
I combine anything that’s going in together in the same bowl, no need for individual ramekins for each spice.
| bowl 1 | bowl 2 | bowl 3 |
|---|---|---|
| salt | cumin powder | chicken cube |
| cayenne | coriander powder | amchur powder |
| chili flakes | chole powder | |
| turmeric | ||
| black pepper |
I also took out and set aside the cinnamon and black cardamom.
Process
This recipe requires a bit of planning ahead, but does offer some downtime in which to multitask and prep ingredients (see previous section). I’ve listed the processes below with this in mind to help streamline everything.
Overnight soak
Add dry chickpeas and baking soda to a large mixing bowl and fill it with water. Yes, fill it—the chickpeas will expand considerably and drink up most of it. Cover the bowl with a dinner plate / tea towel / aluminum foil (whatever you have on hand) and let soak for 12 hours.
Cooking the chickpeas
After 12 hours, drain the chickpeas and rinse them under cold water. Add them to the Instant Pot along with 1 tsp of salt, then cover with water. There should be enough water in the pot to cover the chickpeas with and an additional 2″ of water on top of that.
pressure: high
time: 14-16 minutes
release: 20 minutes natural release
When done, DO NOT DRAIN!
This is a good place to make the thickening paste using ½ cup of the cooked chickpeas.
If you’re using your IP for the rest of the cook, then transfer the chickpeas with their cooking liquid back to the mixing bowl (you washed it, right?), cover, and set aside. Wash the IP insert and move onto making the base gravy.
Base Gravy
- add oil + ginger garlic paste to Instant Pot
sauté: medium
- spread paste around evenly and cook gently until fragrant, ~30 seconds
- add onion paste and cook, stirring periodically, until it changes color to an even, toasty brown and most of the water has evaporated
sauté: low
- add the first round of spices (bowl 1) and sauté for 1 minute; the heat is reduced so that the spices don’t burn
sauté: medium
- add the thickening paste and sauté well until everything is nicely incorporated; this may take several minutes
- if the potato mixture is quite thick, it may stick to the pan; if this happens, add water as needed (a few tablespoons at a time) and scrape the bottom frequently so nothing burns
- add cinnamon and black cardamom, cook for 2-3 minutes
- add the next round of spices (bowl 2) and mix thoroughly
- crumble up the chicken cube and add it to the gravy along with the amchur powder (bowl 3); mix
Bring It All Together
- add cooked chickpeas and yogurt; mix mix mix
- add the aquafaba and stir to combine everything; it will be pretty soupy at this point
- cook uncovered for ~20 minutes until the salan reduces to your desired consistency
- stir regularly and scrape the bottom of the pot to make sure nothing is sticking
- as you stir, crush the chickpeas against the sides of the pot to muddle everything together, make it thicker and give it the signature look
Finishing
Add all the fenugreek and half the cilantro + jalapeño slices (reserve the other half for garnish); mix thoroughly and cook for ~3 minutes.
Notes
- be generous with the ginger garlic paste; I use a heaping tablespoonful
- the original recipe listed “garam masala” but I dislike it a lot, so I substituted with a boxed mix (Shan or other brand) of generic “chole masala”…you could probably get away with using any sort of box mix spice blend here. Or use garam masala if that’s your thing. If you have none of those, skip it.
- aquafaba is the sometimes foamy, cloudy liquid leftover from cooking chickpeas, which we’ll hold onto and won’t discard in this recipe; this is NOT the soaking water that the chickpeas sat in overnight (which had baking soda added to it)
I made this entire recipe in my Instant Pot (first cooking the chickpeas, and then the whole dish in it), but you could make it on the stove top just as easily. I do recommend using the IP or another pressure cooker to cook the actual chickpeas themselves because that will take a lot longer any other way. But apart from that, you can proceed with the rest using any pot you prefer.
See the freezing guide for tips and information on freezer-safe food storage.
