Khatte Chole Aur Bhature

As kids,we were always pestered to eat food with spoon.But we were a rowdy lot and never listened.How could we? When the elders ate food with fingers and preached table etiquettes for kids, it was contradicting.

Like many cultures of the world,India has its own set of  table manners to be followed during dining depending on the kind of food served.We have a unique way of dining which relates to eating with hands.The western world has knives, fork , spoons, sporks [yes I learnt about that recently], the east asian countries have chopsticks,we have god gifted fingers.Ask any Indian and they will tell you at least five advantages of eating with hands-quick, easy and more tasty.We showcase our love for food by eating it with hands.Ofcourse everyone must wash their hands before and after the meal.Most of it has do with the kind of foods like flatbreads & curries which are best eaten by hands.I know many of you reading this would have already raised your eyebrows and already thought of me as uncivilized or uncultured.But I do enjoy eating certain kinds of foods more with hands than cutlery.Do you have any of such food?

During my office days  in India, when we had foreign visitors,at lunch table we would tell them how to eat Indian food.In the most lame language we asked them to use flatbread as spoon and eat the spoon Most of them laughed initially but after a while it made sense to them.It is sometimes difficult to digest indian dining etiquettes but that’s the way it has been forever.If you happen to go to few religious places in India,you might not even find a spoon no matter how hard you look for it.And even if you manage to find one and you start eating with it in public, it will be regarded as disrespect.The cardinal rule is to eat with right hand, without staining the fingers.Few of the women avoid applying nail color on their right hand fingers for this reason.

‘Chole‘ or chickpea curry is very popular street food in the northern parts of India.The curry is known for its blackish color due to use of tea bags while boiling it and has dominant flavor of roasted cumin.In my house, dry pomegranate seeds or anardana is added to this curry along with lots of tomatoes to make it more tangy or ‘khatte‘.This curry is not hot but is spicy.The chickpea curry is traditionally eaten with bhatura or a fried leavened puffed bread.Some people make a yeasted version of bhatura too.What I am posting is an instant recipe which requires an hour of resting time.

Khatte Chhole

Printable Recipe

Ingredients: [Serves 2]

1/3 cup dry chickpeas [substitute with canned garbanzo beans]
1/8 tsp cooking soda
2 black tea bags
Water for boiling
2 medium onions, finely chopped
2 tbsp grated garlic
1 tsp grated ginger
2 green chillies, minced
3 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
1 black cardamom [badi elaichi]
4 cloves
2 bay leaves
1 tsp roasted cumin seeds
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tbsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp dry pomegranate seeds [anardana]
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/4 cup mustard oil [or canola oil]
Salt to taste

Method

Soak the chickpeas over night in 3 cups water with cooking soda.Once soaked, drain the soaking water and discard it.
Boil the chickpeas with enough water, tea bags & 1 tsp salt in a pressure cooker till 80% cooked.About 15 minutes on high and 2 whistles. [Omit this step if using canned garbanzo beans]
Once cooked, drain the chickpeas and preserve the water.We will use it in curry later.
In your coffee blender, coarsely crush the dry pomegranate seeds, cloves, pods of black cardamom and roasted cumin seeds.Add the cinnamon powder to this spice mix.Set aside.



In a cooking vessel with lid, add the oil and heat it up on high till the oil starts smoking slightly.Once smoking, reduce the heat to medium.
Add the finely chopped onion and cook till golden brown.After this add the bay leaf & saute for 2 minutes.
Next, add the grated garlic, minced chilli & ginger and cook for 1-2 minutes.
Next add the chopped tomatoes along with chilli,coriander,turmeric powder,crushed spice mix made in 4th step and salt.Cook this curry masala on low heat till the oil starts separating from the mix along the sides of the vessel.
Tip in the boiled beans into the vessel and combine well so that all the beans are covered in the masala.Saute for about 3 minutes.
Next add 1/2 cup or more of preserved water depending on how thick you like the gravy,cover and let the gravy come to a boil on a low heat.
Once the curry has simmered for 10-15 minutes, add the garam masala, stir well and let simmer for another 5-6 minutes till the chickpeas are soft,
Remove from heat, garnish with chopped cilantro and serve warm bhatura [recipe below]