I don't remember having Dora or Barbie themed birthday parties with perfectly frosted pretty cakes sitting in the center of the table waiting to be cut wearing those frilly birthday gowns. Yet, it was the most special day and definitely something I looked forward to for weeks.
I pretty much had a black forest cake for most of my birthdays, the indian version being a far cry from the  european marvel, still many of you who grew up in India in the 80s would know how we loved it. As with most indian families any kind of celebration meant lady of the house staying in the kitchen dawn to dusk, making one dish after the other.It started with special homemade samosas for breakfast and aromatic biryani or pilaf for lunch and the best was saved for dinner. Everything the rest of the family did whole afternoon was decorating the living room like a bride with those odd colored, mismatched paper ruffles & shimmering swirls, lacking in cohesion but strings of happiness & celebration running through them for certain.
It did not feel like a birthday unless guests had scooped spicy hot chole with yeasty, puffed bhaturas and gobbled down at least a few dozens of warm homemade gulab jamuns. Sometimes, dum aloo and moong dal ki goli were added to the menu but relishing that aromatic, earthy chickpeas curry is what my most fond birthday memory is made up of.You would wonder as to whats so special about chickpeas, but in our  house, chickpeas and other bean curries were limited to special occasions. Given that most of the indian kids I have known in my life LOVE chole-bhature, I was no different.
Usually, I am not hell-bent on starting traditions in the family but the equation changes when food is involved. A couple of weeks back when we celebrated little A's birthday, amongst those pink cupcakes & chinese food, I severely yearned to eat chole- bhature and missed the time when we sat in rounds on the floor with food loaded bhojanthaals set in front of us, laughter, greasy fingers and steam emanating from straight-out-the-wok fried bread. Suddenly, it made perfect sense to make chickpea curry for the two of us and relieve those moments for a while.
Pindi Chana is a spicy chickpea curry which gets its name from Rawalpindi (now in Pakistan) before India-Pak partition, where it originated.This curry is different from the regular chana masala in terms of the selection of spices and rich color from tea added during boiling the chickpeas.Don't worry you will never taste the tea here,rather a very unique, earthy flavor,notable to this spicy preparation. Pindi Chana is a dry preparation of chickpeas  coated with the masala (sauce) and is best served with a bread, salad and pickle on the side.
Pindi Chana
Ingredients
For Boiling Chickpeas
- 1 cup dry chickpeas or use canned chickpeas
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 black cardamom
- 1 black tea bag unflavored
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon oil
For The Masala
- ½ tablespoon chaat masala
- ¼ cup mustard oil or any cooking oil
- 1 cup onion sliced
- ¾ cup tomatoes chopped
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
- 2 indian green chillies hot
Grind to a coarse powder
- ½ teaspoon black peppercorn
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1.5 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 4 whole dry red chillies
- 1 black cardamom seeds
- ½ teaspoon kasuri methi
Instructions
- Soak the chickpeas overnight in enough water. Drain and discard the water.
- Transfer the chickpeas to pressure cooker. Add all the listed ingredients along with 2.5 cup water. Pressure cook for 4-5 whistles or till 95% cooked.
- Once cooked, drain the chickpeas, discard the tea bag and reserve the stock. Mix with chaat masala and half of the ground spice powder with the chickpeas and set aside.
- In a cooking pot, heat up the oil to smoky on high heat.
- Take off the stove and add the onions. Lightly brown the onions .
- Add ginger and garlic paste and tomatoes. Cook on medium heat till the tomatoes soften and you see oil separating on sides of the pot.
- At this point, add the turmeric and the spice powder to the pan. Mix well and cook for another 3-4 minutes till you smell a nice aroma.
- Add the chickpeas to the pot next with reserved stock and green chillies. Taste and adjust the salt. Cover and let the chickpeas cook on medium low heat for 20-25 minutes or till they are completely soft but not mushy.
- Let sit for 1-2 hours before serving. The sauce will thicken up and develop flavors as the dish sits. Serve garnished with cilantro.
Ingredients (Serves 2-3)
For Boiling the Chickpeas (skip this step if using canned chickpeas)
- 1 cup chickpeas, raw
- 1 no black unflavored tea bag((if you are using a mild tea variety, you can use 2 bags)
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon oil
- 2 cups water
- ½ tablespoon chaat masala
For the Sauce
- 4 tablespoon mustard oil (or any neutral oil)
- ¾ cup tomatoes, chopped
- 1.5 teaspoon grated fresh ginger shoot
- 1 fat garlic clove
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- 1-2 Thai green chilies (adjust to tolerance)
- Salt to taste
- Chopped Cilantro for garnish
Grind to a coarse powder
- ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1.5 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 2 dry red chillies
- 1 tsp anardana (dried pomegranate seeds, use lemon juice/dry mango powder if you don't have these)
- 1 small black cardamom
- ½ teaspoon kasuri methi(dried fenugreek leaves)
Method
Soak the chickpeas overnight in enough water.Drain and discard the water and transfer the chickpeas to your pressure cooker. Add tea bag, salt,soda, oil and 2.5 cups water and pressure cook for 4-5 whistles or till 95% cooked. Please adjust the cooking time & number of whistles depending on your variety of chickpeas. Once cooked, drain the chickpeas, discard the tea bag and reserve the stock. Mix with chaat masala and half of the ground spice powder with the chickpeas and set aside.
In a pot, heat up the oil to smoky on high heat. Take off the stove and add the chopped tomatoes to the oil. Also add ginger and garlic. Cook on medium heat till the tomatoes soften and you see oil separating on sides of the pot. At this point, add the turmeric and rest of the spice powder to the pan and cook for another 3-4 minutes till you smell a nice aroma. Add the chickpeas to the pot next with about ¾ - 1 cup of reserved stock and green chillies. Taste and adjust the salt. Cover and let the chickpeas cook on medium low heat for 20-25 minutes or till they  are completely soft but not mushy.
Let sit for 1-2 hours before serving. The sauce will thicken up and develop flavors as the dish sits. When ready to serve, reheat and if you feel that they are too dry, add little bit of reserved stock, simmer again for 5-7 minutes and serve garnished with cilantro.
Serve with bhatura, warm tortillas, pita bread or naan.
Enjoy & Thanks for stopping by!
Aruna Panangipally
I so love Pindi Chana. My recipe is slightly different from yours, so the next time I make Chana I will use your recipe.
Tanvi
I will check out your recipe too.
Shelly
Thanks for sharing your memories along with your wonderful recipes. I feel Pondi chhole, like the ones we ate on the roadsides of delhi or amritsar, have actually never been duplicated in an indian household yet. Heaven knows what goes into those amritsari chhole/pindi chana! This is a darn good try though, thanks again!
Tanvi
My mom says that its the dust which makes street food tasty & not the the ingredients 🙂 Just kidding.Thanks for stopping by.
Rosa Mayland
Scrumptious! A fabulous combination of ingredients. This chickpea dish is simply fabulous.
Cheers,
Rosa
Tanvi
Thanks dear -xx
shweta a
i so much agree with you, having black forest cake was the one sure shot thing on birthdays...And when u said that main lady of the house would be busy only cooking is so true to all indian homes...
Pindi channa with samosa is what i love:) know like a samaosa chaat...
Once again mind blowing pictures:)
Tanvi
Thank you!
arecipeforgluttony
This sounds really lovely. I will be giving this recipe a try, the flavours sound fantastic & chickpeas are so satisfying.
Tanvi
Let me know how it fared on your taste buds 🙂
pRiya
When you describe your childhood birthday parties, I remember that a Southie like me went for the first time ever to a Northie friend's birthday party. Apart from Dahi vada, there was this, this chole. I thought they were the best foods I'd eaten in my entire life. I will be very happy to recreate this recipe soon in my kitchen and relive my memories of food at that party.
All your photographs are stunning but that third picture of channa in the blue dish is especially very beautiful.
Tanvi
Chole is the ubiquitous north indian birthday party food 🙂 Hope you like the recipe!
keertthana
looks yummy and healthy too...pls do visit my space..
http://www.iridiscentpetals.blogspot.com
13 Spices
beautiful recipe. I have never tried tea infused chick peas and I thought I had them all! Can you really taste the black tea? In fact I just bought some loose black tea today. What tea do you recommend? Thx!
Tanvi
You will not taste the tea but a unique flavor (not tea like though) which is unique to this preparation.I would say lightly smoky & pleasantly bitter.I use my black assam tea bag that is used for making chai.If you have loose tea,you can tie it up (about a tsp) in muslin/cheesecloth & add while boiling chickpeas. Hope this helps.
13 Spices
wonderful. I will let you know how mine turn out....Thank you
MyKabulKitchen
This is such an interesting recipe my dad loves chickpeas and tea...I wonder if he would enjoy this dish. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Sandra
I made this yesterday evening and it was amazing! Thank you so much for all your wonderful recipes!
And by the way: I grew up in Switzerland, and we also had Black Forest Cake for every birthday party... 🙂
Tanvi
Many thanks for trying it and for your feedback. It just made my dull day!!
healthfulmindbodyandsoul
Your photos are absolutely beautiful.
Merlin
Hi Tanvi - do you have a bhature recipe as well. Pls share.
Tanvi
Soon!