Chole — Punjabi Chickpea Curry (छोले)

Ingredients

• 400 g dried kabuli chana (chickpeas), soaked in cold water for 12 hours minimum, drained
• 1 black tea bag, strong black tea, e.g. Assam or CTC
• 3 tbsp neutral oil or ghee
• 2 large onions, finely chopped
• 3 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp ginger, grated to a paste
• 1 tbsp garlic, grated to a paste
• 2 tsp chole masala, commercial (Everest or MDH Chana Masala are stated benchmarks) or house-blended with anardana and amchur
• 1 tsp anardana (pomegranate seed powder)
• 1 tsp amchur (dried mango powder)
• 1 tsp salt, or to taste
• To serve
• 4 bhatura or kulcha, freshly made or warmed
• 1 medium white onion, thinly sliced raw

Method

1. 1
   Place the drained, soaked chickpeas in a pressure cooker with enough cold water to cover by 5 cm and add the black tea bag, so the tannins in the tea stain the skins a deep, even brown that no amount of spice can replicate later. Seal and cook on high pressure until the chickpeas are completely tender — the skin should offer no resistance when pressed between two fingers. Remove and discard the tea bag, and reserve the cooking liquor.
2. 2
   Heat the oil or ghee in a heavy-based pan over medium-high heat, add the chopped onions, and cook, stirring regularly, until they are a deep, even golden brown with no pale patches, because every pale patch will still taste raw inside the finished gravy. The colour of the finished dish depends entirely on the colour achieved here.
3. 3
   Add the ginger and garlic pastes and stir continuously so they fry against the hot pan rather than steam in their own moisture, cooking until the raw sharpness has gone and the smell turns sweet and toasted. Once the paste begins to catch and pull away from the base, it is ready.
4. 4
   Add the chopped tomatoes, chole masala, anardana, and amchur, then cook over medium heat, pressing and folding the mixture continuously — this is the bhunao stage — until the tomatoes have completely broken down and the fat separates and pools visibly at the edges of the paste, which tells you the spices have cooked through and the acidity has mellowed into something rounded and deep. This is where the dish lives or dies: a masala that has not reached fat separation will produce a flat, starchy gravy that no amount of simmering will rescue.
5. 5
   Add the cooked chickpeas and enough of the reserved cooking liquor to loosen the gravy to a coating consistency, so the dark, spiced liquid rather than plain water carries its flavour into every chickpea as it simmers. Season with salt, and simmer uncovered over medium heat for 10–15 minutes until the gravy thickens and clings to each chickpea.
6. 6
   Remove approximately 10 per cent of the chickpeas from the pan and mash them to a rough paste with the back of a spoon or a fork, then return the mash to the pan and stir it through, so the broken chickpeas dissolve into the gravy and give it body and a clinging, velvety texture that no reduction alone can produce. Simmer briefly until the gravy is thick, dark, and clings to the whole chickpeas without pooling in the bowl.
7. 7
   Serve immediately alongside freshly made or warmed bhatura or kulcha and a pile of thinly sliced raw onion.