First, prep the ingredients which require it. I like to go in such an order that the meat is last so I’m not stuck chopping veggies on a nasty board or having to wash in between.
crush cumin and coriander seeds in a mortar & pestle
you can use a mini food processor, spice grinder, or a small, sturdy glass and the hilt of your knife (carefully)…use whatever you have on hand
no need to crush to a fine powder; some texture is good
chop cilantro
mince chilies or blitz in a processor (it’s handy to have this already in the freezer)
cut chicken into bite-sized pieces
Add all the ingredients except the besan to the chicken and mix thoroughly so that all the chicken pieces are evenly coated. Cover and let marinate in the fridge for ~1 hour.
Remove chicken from fridge and add enough gram flour (besan) to the mix to make a thin coating on the chicken. You don’t want it too thick either in consistency or coating. Adjust yogurt and besan amounts to achieve this result. You can thin the mixture with the liquidy parts of the yogurt, milk, or water.
Fry a couple pakoray and taste for seasoning; if all is good, fry the rest of the chicken in batches.
Notes
My pakoray ended up getting a bit burnt on the outside in some places…I suspect this may have to do with the Kashmiri chili / paprika, so feel free to leave that out. It’s just in there for “color” anyway, and probably not really doing any favors.
don’t be scared of the spices but also, if you don’t have a couple, you can leave them out
marination time is an ideal, not a requirement
use water to wet the batter instead of yogurt if you don’t have it; traditional pakoray batter is made with water, the yogurt just helps to tenderize the meat
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
*salt is listed twice, as it’s used in 2 places **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.
wash mint, leaving the leaves on the stem for easy removal at the end; snap off any excess stem length
add all the ingredients to the shallowest pot you have or a straight-sided frying pan
cook on medium heat until sugar is dissolved, then reduce to a simmer and cook down the mixture for ~45 minutes, stirring regularly to avoid burning/scalding
remove mint in the last 15 minutes or so of cooking, or whenever you feel they’ve given up their flavor; better to do this before the mixture really thickens up in the end, so you lose minimal product
nutrition
whole recipe (535g): 1,873 per 100g: 350 calories
notes
a wide, shallow vessel will allow for more surface area and quicker evaporation
mixture may look like it’s hardly thickening for the first half hour or so, just keep to the instructions, and it will begin to come together in the end
because of the science involved, the cocoa powder can’t be replaced with dutch-processed cocoa powder; read the original recipe post for more details (see Credits section above)
if you do not have applesauce, you can just use oil; you can replace some of the oil in most baked goods with applesauce
espresso powder deepens the chocolate flavor, without giving any coffee flavor in this amount; use it if you have it, skip it if you don’t
if you don’t have molasses, use 100g of regular sugar and 150g of brown sugar
other
all ingredients should be at room temp; if you’re like me, just heat a cup of water in the microwave to generate heat and steam, then put the sour cream and eggs in the TURNED OFF microwave to warm up before you start
oil the tray really well as they will stick to dry spots easily
See the freezing guide for tips and information on freezer-safe food storage.
heat tortilla according to preference (see notes below)
if using cheese, lay cheese on top of hot tortilla and add hot chicken tender on top so the cheese melts easily
layer the rest of the ingredients on top, ending with the lettuce so that you can more easily hold things down to roll without getting your hands dirty
roll up tortilla; it’s not necessary for complete overlap if you’re careful with holding it properly while eating
notes
naturally, all amounts are to-taste so do and use whatever you like
tortilla can be heated any way you prefer:
stovetop: on a griddle, tawa, comal, or dry frying pan, turning to get nice brown spots and taking it off the heat once desired doneness is reached; do not heat too long or it will become crunchy and not foldable
microwave: lay tortilla on microwave -safe plate and cover with a damp paper towel, heat until just warmed through; this will yield a soft, pliable tortilla that’s not crunchy at all
airfryer / toaster oven / oven: heat for a few minutes until warmed through; avoid getting brown spots as it will turn into a giant tortilla chip pretty quickly, especially in a toaster oven or air fryer which works faster than a standard oven
any chicken tender will work, I use a spicy breaded variety and pop it in the airfryer for 20-25 minutes, flipping halfway through
I use Frank’s hot sauce and find the simplicity of it plays nicely with both the mayo and pickles
for the greens, use whatever you have on hand: iceberg, spring mix, spinach, arugula, celery tops, romaine, etc.
slice the onion very thinly, lengthwise (from pole to pole)
slice jalapeño very thinly into coins
add salt to taste—not enough to make it salty, just enough to play up the other flavors
add lemon juice and massage into the vegetables so that all the onions break up from their nested sections and the lemon juice nicely coats everything
rest ~10 minutes until the vegetables lose some of their raw bite
Notes
can use white onions, but the flavor is better with red, as they tend to be sweeter and better for consuming raw
I cut my vegetables very thinly; you could make thicker slices if that’s what you prefer and those may hold up better to storing (untested)
other acids can be used as well, such as vinegars, or lime juice; I find the lemon juice adds the best burst of bright citrus flavor and tang
These pickles are best made and enjoyed fresh, but can be stored covered in an airtight container in the fridge for several days. They will lose some of their snap as the acids continue to work on the vegetables, but will still be tasty.
add all ingredients under “in the pressure cooker” to pressure cooker
Pressure: High Time: 5 minutes Release: 5 minutes natural, then quick release
add milk, heavy cream, and both mustards, mix thoroughly
add handfuls of cheese, stirring in between until melted, until all cheese is done
notes
any medium size pasta shape will work fine; my favorite is cavatappi
any combination of cheeses can be used, but classic mac and cheese flavor relies on a cheddar-forward profile, the sharper the better (or per preference)
can replace the milk and heavy cream with 1 cup of milk instead (tested)
cheese 2
The original recipe used mozzarella for all 120g of cheese 2, but that was a bit “meh.” This slot is a good place to experiment. The picture below used half Jarlsberg and half shredded Mexican blend. The Jarlsberg adds a really nutty flavor and amazing cheese pull. Also makes a great grilled cheese.
See the freezing guide for tips and information on freezer-safe food storage.
