Chole (Garbanzo beans curry)

This is another popular dish in India. There are many recipes you will find to make this curry. This is a simple recipe and one of my favorites. This curry is usually paired with Baturas or Pooris but goes very well with chapatis (whole wheat Indian flatbread) as well. It also goes well with plain boiled rice. I will have posts up on baturas, pooris and chapatis. Stay tuned. This is a thick gravy, also called a chana masala because of this very reason.

Chole (Garbanzo beans curry)


100 gms. dried kabuli channa (Garbanzo beans)
2 kashmiri chillies (dried red chillies)
3 onions, peeled and cubed
2 green chillies (or to taste)
1″ ginger, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
2 tomatoes, roughly cubed
1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
1 tsp. red chilly powder
1 tsp. garam masala powder
1 t 1/2 tbsp. vegetable oil
Salt, to taste
2 tbsp. fresh coriander leaves, chopped

Soak the beans overnight in plenty of water.

Rinse out with fresh water the next day and pressure cook with 2 kashmiri chillies and about 1 tsp. salt. Cook for about 15 minutes after the 1st whistle.
If you aren’t using a pressure cooker, simply cook till tender. Reserve the stock.

In a blender, blitz the onions, chillies, ginger and garlic till you get a smooth paste.

Heat the oil in a pot/vessel and tip in the onion paste. Sauté for a few minutes, stirring to make sure it doesn’t burn.

While this is cooking off, tip the tomatoes in the blender and puree. Keep aside.

When the onion paste has thickened, add the turmeric powder, chilly powder and garam masala powder and stir till well mixed with the onion paste.

Add the tomato puree, stir well and let it cook off on a medium flame till you see a little of the oil at the sides of the masala paste. It should take a couple of minutes.

Add the cooked beans and stir gently. Let it cook in the masala for a couple of minutes.

Add some of the water in which the beans were cooked to the pot till you get the desired consistency. Let it thicken a little.

Check for salt. Adjust if needed.

Sprinkle the chopped coriander leaves and gently mix through.

Serve hot!

**Check back for the next post which will show you another interesting use of boiled garbanzo beans.**

This recipe is linked to –
Not Baaad
Meatless Mondays
Just Another Meatless Monday
My Meatless Mondays
Decidedly Healthy or Horridly Decadent
The Blog Entourage
Mouthwatering Monday