Ingredients
- 2 cups dry chickpeas
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 teabags
- 1 black cardamom
- 3 green cardamom
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 1 staranise
- 4 cloves
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 bay leaf
- 7 peppercorns
- 1 tsp pomegranate seeds
- 3 chillies
- 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 3 tbsp ghee
- 1 onion
- 4 tomatoes
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp mango powder
- 1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
- Pressure cooker or slow cooker (optional)
- Stick blender and strainer (recommended)
Prep
Soak the chickpeas overnight. You can use a slow cooker or a pressure cooker to make cooking them easier, if you do it the conventional way, factor in another hour and a half easily.
For a slow cooker, I would do it on low overnight. In a pressure cooker, twenty minutes seems to be sufficient. The key in both cases is to add a teaspoon of baking powder to soften up the chickpeas, and a teabag or two to balance out the change in flavour that comes with the baking powder.
If you don't have a blender and strainer, you'll want to grate the onion and tomatoes (separately).
I also find it difficult to fish out the whole spices before blending, and I've found using a little muslin bag for them makes things easier, even if they don't infuse the fat quite as well.
Instructions
Heat the ghee in a pan and add the whole spices. Fry them for a minute or two before adding the ginger garlic paste. Stir frequently while this cooks, and don't let it burn. Around a minute should be fine. Then, add the onion and fry it thoroughly, for at least five minutes. When they're nice and soft, remove the whole spices as well as you can, and add the ground spices. Fry them thoroughly, and have the tomatoes ready to go in before they burn. Add a splash of water, and take your time with the tomatoes, I would say ten minutes at least. Once the fats start separating, blend the sauce and strain it, add in the chickpeas and cook everything together for at least another ten minutes.
Serve with chopped fresh coriander and julienned ginger. I also like adding some thinly sliced red onion and a tablespoon or two of yogurt, with flatbreads.