Indian Chole Recipe | Chick Peas (Garbanzo Beans)

Most people in India are vegetarian. Lentils, other beans, and nuts are therefore common protein sources in Indian food. Here, I am showing a recipe for chole, which is an Indian dish made with the legume commonly known as chick peas or garbanzo beans.

India is the largest producer of chick peas in the world. Chick peas are excellent sources of protein, fiber, folate, and manganese. They are also good sources of iron, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, and copper. Garbanzo beans are also commonly used in certain middle-eastern cuisine, such as hummus and falafel.

7 Roma tomatoes

8-9 cloves of garlic, (about 2/3 of a bulb), peeled

8 cups of canned garbanzo beans, (chick peas) drained and washed (or if you start with dry garbanzo beans, then soak them in water overnight, and cook them in a pressure cooker prior to starting the rest of the recipe)

one large red onion - half finely diced, half coarsely sliced and separated

1 bunch cilantro, washed - half whole and half chopped

1/3 cup of canola oil

1 tablespoon of canola oil

1 inch fresh grated ginger (or pre-grated and frozen into ice-cube trays - 1 cube)

2 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

 Indian Store Ingredients:

1½ tsp cumin

½ tsp hing (asafoetida)

1 tsp chili powder

1½ tsp chole masala

1½ tsp turmeric

If you do not have easy access to an Indian grocery store, you can get these items here:

1. Place tomatoes into a heated pan (high or medium-high heat), and drizzle with a tablespoon of canola oil.

2. Let tomatoes blacken, turn tomatoes for even blackening on all sides.

3. When tomatoes are evenly roasted, add garlic and coarsely sliced onion, and continue to heat until the onions and garlic have browned, then shut off heat.

4. Put these roasted ingredients into the blender, tomatoes first. Add half bunch cilantro.

5. Blend on low setting for a few seconds, then high setting until you see an even texture. I use the Ninja professional blender.

6. Prepare tadka.

Tadka is the general term for the mixture of spices that gives most Indian dishes their characteristic flavor.

1. Pour 1/3 cup canola oil into a 6 quart pot and place on medium-high heat.

2.  After giving the oil a few minutes to heat up, add cumin seeds, and allow them to brown for only a few seconds, then shut off the heat. Keeping the heat too long here will burn the cumin seeds.

3. Add finely diced onion. Turn the heat back on medium-high heat, and stir periodically as you roast the onion.

4. Add turmeric, hing, chili powder, and chole masala. Allow this mixture to evenly brown, stirring continuously for a few seconds.

5. Add ginger, then pour in the tomato mixture from the blender.

6. Reduce heat to medium, and allow to simmer for 2 minutes.

7. Add salt and sugar.

1. Add the chick peas to the pot, and simmer on medium heat for 20 minutes, then on low heat for another 20 minutes.

2. Turn off heat, and garnish with the half bunch of chopped cilantro.

3. Serve with basmati rice. This dish serves 8-10 people.

4. You can also squeeze some lemon juice over the dish before serving.