4medium sized tomatoesfinely chopped or coarsely pureed
2big sized onionfinely chopped (or 3 medium sized onions)
2tablespoonoil
1tablespoonghee
1broken dry red chillideseeded
½teaspooncumin seeds/jeera
2green chilliescut into 2 pieces or finely chopped
pinchof asafoetida/hing
5-6garlic clovesfinely chopped or minced
an inch piece of gingergrated
1teaspooncoriander powder/dhania powder
1teaspoonjeera/cumin powder
½teaspoonred chili powder or as required
½teaspoonamchur powder/mango powder
1.5teaspoonchole masala
salt
small bunch of coriander leaveschopped
Instructions
For boiling chickpeas/chole
Soak chole overnight. Next day, drain all the excess water and wash thoroughly.
Transfer them to a vessel for pressure cooking. Add cloves, cinnamon stick, salt, eno, chole masala, 1 tea bag and 3 cups of water. Pressure cook them on high flame till 1 whistle and then reduce the flame and cook for another 15-20 minutes.
Once the pressure releases, open the lid. Remove tea bag and strain. Preserve the stock (water in which we boiled chickpeas). We will be using it for our gravy. Set boiled chole aside.
Preparing Chole Masala
In a non-stick pan, heat oil and ghee. Add dry red chilli and cumin seeds. Once they splutter, add green chilli, hing, and chopped onions.
Saute till the onions become transparent.
Then add ginger and garlic and saute for another 2-3 minutes.
Now add chopped tomatoes and saute till tomatoes become soft and pulpy.
Now add all the spice powders - dhaniya powder, jeera powder, chole masala, red chilli powder, amchur powder and salt. Saute for 2-3 minutes or till fat starts separating from our gravy.
Now add boiled chole and about 1-1.5 cups of the preserved stock and stir.
Simmer for another 5-10 minutes. If you prefer more gravy, you may add more stock.
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot with puris, parathas, bhaturas or steamed rice/ jeera peas pulao.