Pindi Chana-No onion garlic/Pindi Chole-An authentic Punjabi recipe of chole where chickpeas are flavored with pomegranate seeds and dry spices. No onion ,garlic, tomatoes, turmeric or Red chili powder are used. The Color is dark brown/black from the dry spices.
Pindi Chana-No onion garlic/Pindi Chole is different from Chana masala which is usually made in the traditional onion, ginger, garlic and tomato curry base. The chana/chole is dry to semi dry with spices coating every piece. I love adding potatoes, Traditionally the potatoes are fried and added,I have air fried them and they tasted perfect. if you don’t have an air fryer, boil the potatoes, cut into wedges and pan fry them. I always pan fried potatoes till I got my Air fryer.
The aim is to go for a nice dark color and to achieve that- the tea bag is added. It does not impact the taste of the chana/chole. Since I have a steel tea strainer, I used loose tea leaves. You can use a muslin cloth and make a bouquet garnis with the whole spices. Or if you don’t have a tea strainer or muslin cloth, put the whole spices directly to cook with the chickpeas. Remove the spices before consumption.Turmeric,tomatoes and red chili powder give a reddish/yellowish color to all dishes, since we are going for a dark color, we avoid all these ingredients.
These No onion garlic Pindi chole are perfect for festivals and in my opinion since there is no peeling and frying of onions and garlic this dish comes together very quickly. Anardana/pomegranate seeds are an important ingredient in this recipe both for color and texture and also adds a tang to the dish. If Anardana/pomegranate seeds are not available, increase the quantity of Amchur/Dry mango powder.
These Pindi chole/chana goes really well with Instant Pancake Mix Bhaturas and moms famous Dahi Gujiyas. If you are watching your calories then do try out these quick and easy Fat Free Dahi Vadas made in the microwave in minutes.
Some other recipes to try are-
Gatte ki Sabzi-No Onion Garlic-Instant Pot Recipe
Dum Aloo-No Onion,Ginger or Garlic-Instant Pot Recipe
Paneer Butter Masala-No Onion No Garlic Recipe
Baingan Aloo-No Onion Garlic Recipe
No Onion No Garlic No Cream Curry-For Fasting/Vrat/Upvas
Moving on to the recipe, here is the written recipe, followed by the step by step pictorial one-
Pindi Chana-Authentic Punjabi Recipe
Equipment
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1 pressure cooker/instant pot
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1 colander
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1 wok
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1 spatula
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1 chopping board
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1 measuring cups and spoons
Ingredients
- 4 cups 28 oz/800 grams White chickpeas/chana/garbanzo beans soaked overnight
- 4 cups water
- salt to taste-I used approx 3 tsp salt
- 4 Brown cardamoms/Moti Elaichi/Badi Elaichi
- 10 cloves/laung
- 1 large cinnamon stick/dalchini
- 1 Tea bag or 1 tsp loose tea leaves
For roasting and grinding
- 2 tbsp Dry Pomegranate seeds/Sookha Anardana
- 2 tbsp Cumin seeds/jeera
Other spices for mixing
- 4 tbsp Coriander Powder/Dhania Powder
- 2 1/2 tsp Black Pepper powder/Kali mirch powder
- 2 tsp Garam masala powder
- 1 1/2 tbsp Dry mango Powder/Amchur
- 6-8 Green chilies slit in half
- 2 inch Piece of ginger/15 gms peeled and cut into slivers or thin strips
- 2 medium potatoes optional
- 1 tsp oil for Air Fried potatoes
- 1/2 tsp salt for Air Fried potatoes
- 1/2 cup ghee use coconut oil for vegan option
- 1/4 cup any odorless oil
for garnish
- lemons cut into wedges
- Onion sliced
Instructions
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In pressure cooker/Instant pot put chickpeas/chana water,salt brown cardamoms,cinnamon,cloves and tea bag and bring to full pressure on high heat. Give one whistle. Now reduce heat to medium low and continue to cook for 7 minutes.
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If using Instant Pot,choose Bean/chili option or pressure cook for 15 minutes
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Remove from heat and let pressure release naturally
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Meanwhile roast dry pomegranate seeds and cumin on a pan over medium heat. When cumin seeds turn light brown, remove from heat,cool and grind to a powder.
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Open Pressure cooker and transfer the chickpeas/chana into a strainer/colander. Strain all the liquid and reserve. We will use the liquid later.
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To the chickpeas/chana,add pomegranate cumin powder,coriander,black pepper, garam masala and dry mango powder/amchur. Toss well till chickpeas are evenly coated with all the spices.
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Put slit green chilies and ginger slices on top of the chickpeas/chana
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Optional Step-Cut potatoes into wedges.Apply oil and salt.
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Preheat Air Fryer at 370 for 5 minutes. Layer potatoes in a single layer and air fry for 5 minutes. Spray with oil and flip and air fry again for 5 minutes, total air fry time is 10 minutes. Or deep fry /pan fry the potatoes. I air fry them.
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In a small pan, heat ghee(coconut oil for vegans) and oil together till it starts smoking. Pour this smoking ghee/oil evenly over the chickpeas/chana. We want the ginger and green chilies to sizzle with the smoking ghee/oil.
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In a large pan/karahi/pressure cooker-put chickpeas,potatoes(optional)reserved liquid and cook till liquid dries up and spices have blended in. If using potatoes, the potatoes will get coated with spices. This will take approximately 10 minutes. Keep stirring and mixing.
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Garnish with onions, lemons and serve with nan or rotis
Notes
Here is the step by step pictorial recipe-
Rinse and soak chickpeas/chana/garbanzo beans overnight
Roast pomegranate/anardana seeds and cumin/jeera on a pan
till cumin seeds turns slightly dark. Cool and grind into a powder(I used a coffee grinder)
Rinse chickpeas. Add whole spices like brown cardamoms
cloves,cinnamon and loose tea leaves in a tea strainer like I have done or place in a muslin cloth or just directly with the chick peas
Add water,salt and pressure cook on high heat. Give one whistle. Now reduce heat to medium low and continue to cook for 7 minutes
Let pressure release naturally
if using an Instant Pot, choose Bean/chili option or pressure cook for 15 minutes
Open Pressure cooker and transfer the chickpeas/chana into a strainer/colander. Strain the liquid and reserve. We will use the liquid later.
To the chickpeas/chana,add pomegranate cumin powder,coriander,black pepper, garam masala and dry mango powder/amchur
Toss well till chickpeas are evenly coated with all the spices
Place the slit green chilies and ginger on top of the chickpeas/chana
Optional step-Add potato wedges
Cut 2 potatoes into wedges. Rub salt and oil all over the wedges
Preheat Air fryer at 370 F for 5 minutes and place the wedges in Air fryer and air fry at 370 F for 5 minutes
Spray the wedges, flip them and air fry again at 370 F for 5 minutes(total 10 minutes)
In a pan, bring oil and ghee(use only oil for a vegans) to heat till it starts SMOKING
Pour SMOKING hot ghee/oil combo on top of the ginger/green chili and chickpeas
(We want to sizzle the ginger, green chilies and the spices)
In a large pan/karahi/pressure cooker/Instant Pot-put chickpeas, potatoes(optional),reserved liquid and cook till liquid dries up and spices have blended in.
If using potatoes, the potatoes will get coated with spices. This will take approximately 10 minutes. Keep stirring and mixing.
Garnish with lemon wedges, cilantro and Onions. Tastes delicious with Instant Pancake Mix Bhaturas
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Sangeeta Sethi
Fabulous authentic preparation of pindi chole .
Aanchal Gupta
Thank you so much Sangeeta di