Pindi Chana (Tea flavored Chickpea Curry)

Pindi Chana, also known as pindi chole is a tea flavored punjabi chole dish made without onion, garlic and tomatoes. It is made by slow simmering tender chickpeas with lots of hot & tangy spices, green chilies and ginger. The unique color and flavor in this curry comes from boiling chickpeas with black tea and slow cooking them in an iron cooking pot.

Typically, pindi chana is a dry preparation, however I like to make it slightly saucy to scoop with indian flatbreads. This is one of the easiest chickpea curry that you can make make on a weeknight or serve for weekend breakfast. Canned chickpeas work great, read my instructions on how to use later in the post.

Chickpea dishes such as dry kala chana (made from black chickpeas) or pindi chana, which omit onions and garlic, offer a refreshing departure from the typical onion-tomato curry base that I make commonly for curries. These traditional punjabi chole recipes showcase a delightful alternative flavor profile and are perfect for days when we want something different.

About Pindi Chana

Chana or Chole = White Chickpeas.

Pindi chana takes its name from its origins in the Rawalpindi region.It beautifully reflects the shared culinary heritage of Punjabi cuisine and Pakistani cuisine. This pindi chole recipe is quite simple to prepare and it truly showcases the bold flavors and enticing aromas of Indian spices.

Pindi chole gets its deep brown hue from boiling chana (white chickpeas) with black cardamom & black tea, or authentic recipes use dried amla (indian gooeseberry). Don't worry you will not taste the tea or amla here, rather a unique flavor.

The best part about this making this chickpea curry is that you don't have to chop or bhuno(fry) the onions, garlic and tomatoes. The simple preperation work like making a cumin, green chilli & ginger paste can be done in 2-3 minutes and then you simply gather your spices and proceed to make the curry. It is a spicy & tangy dish that pairs amazinly with deep fried flatbreads such a bhaturas, poori or doughy naan or tawa kulcha.

Authentic pindi chana is a dry curry, but my family likes it a little saucy. Pindi chana is best served with a sprinkle of chopped onions, fresh chopped cilantro and green chillies.

Best Cooking Pot

Some dishes taste better when they are cooked in specific pots. For pindi chana masala, I highly recommend using a lohe ki kadai (indian iron wok) or a cast iron skillet or cast iron pot. If you own a non enamaled dutch oven, it is perfect.

Cooking in an iron pot imparts a subtle earthy flavor to the dish and enhances its color and taste. As the chana simmers slowly and gently, it develop rich flavors and aromas. This earthy undertone complements the robust use of hot & tangy spices used in the dish and makes for a more complex and satisfying flavor profile.

One word of caution though, add the sour agent at the very end to pindi chana- be it lime juice, tamarind or amchoor (dry mango powder). Just mix and immediately transfer to a non reactive serving bowl made of glass, ceramic or stainless steel.

Ingredients

1. White Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans) - Also known as kabuli chana, chole or chana. Like most south asians, I prefer to use home cooked chickpeas that have been soaked overnight. A can of chicpeas works good(read later in the post how-to)!
2. Whole Spices - Bay leaves, Black cardamom(gives authentic taste), black peppercorns, cloves, cinnamom stick, cumin seeds
3. Unflavored Black Tea - Use orange pekoe tea (either loose tea or black tea bags is fine).
4. Green Chilies - These are the primary source of heat in this recipe. I use indian varierty of green chilies and its pretty hot. Thai birds eye chillies are a good substitute.
5. Chana Masala - You could use store bought chana masala or homemade. I use the former. My favorite brand of chana masala is Roopak. If not available, I go for Everest chole masala.
6. Mustard Oil - For authentic punjabi taste, cook these chana in mustard oil.Substitute with any neutral cooking oil.
7. Other Ingredients - ginger, roasted cumin powder, red chili powder, black salt (kala namak)
8. Tamarind - I use unsweetened tamarind paste for adding sourness. Use lemon juice, amchoor powder or dried pomegranate seeds powder. 

Instructions

Boil The Chickpeas

1. Add dry raw chickpeas to a large bowl, wash 1-2 times under running water to get rid of any dirt on them. Then, cover in excess water. Soak chickpeas for 8-12 hours (overnight). They will grow in size after soaking. 
2. Next morning, drain the water and place soaked chickpeas in a pressure cooker. You could also use instant pot for boiling the chickpeas. 
3. Add whole spices - bay leaf, black and green cardamom, cinnamon stick and cloves. Also add the tea bag (snip & discard the paper tag if any on the tea bag), black salt (kala namak), salt and oil. I also like to add about ⅛ teaspoon baking soda while boiling the chickpeas but it is optional. If you have loose black tea at home, tie tea leaves in a muslin cloth along with whole spices and then use.

4. Next, add water and close the lid of the pressure cooker. Pressure cook for 4-5 whistles (about 6-8 minutes) and once pressure releases, check that chickpeas are soft but not mushy. They should hold shape but should be easily mashable between your fingers. Please adjust time of pressure cooking as needed. At the end of pressure cooking, there will be chickpea stock in the pressure cooker, reserve it since we are going to use it up while cooking. Pick the tea bag using tongs and discard.
5. While the chickpeas are still warm, take out about ¼ cup in a bowl and using back of spoon, mash into a paste. Since we are not using onions or coriander powder in this recipe, this chickpea mash will help us achieve a thick consistency. Set aside.

Make Pindi Chole

6. While the chickpeas are boiling, add ginger, green chilies, black peppercorns and cumin seeds to a mortar pestle, pound and make a coarse paste.

6. In a cast iron kadai or cooking pot, warm up the mustard oil.
7. On low heat, add the ginger cumin paste to the hot oil. Fry for 10-12 seconds.
8. Add the boiled chickpeas along with stock to the pot. Sprinkle chole masala powder, roasted cumin powder,red chili powder and salt. Also add the mashed chickpeas. Mix everything very well. Now for the next 10-12 minutes we are going to slow simmer the chana.

9. While the chana is slow cooking, make a quick tempering on the other stove. Warm up ghee in a small pan and temper with cumin seeds, sliced green chilies and ginger julinnes.

9. Add the tempering to pindi chana along with tamarind paste. Mix well and immediately transfer pindi chana to a non-reactive bowl made with glass, ceramic or stainless steel.

6. While serving, add chopped raw onions, cilantro and green chilies on top of pindi chana. Pindi Chans is best served with indian flatbreads such as poori, bhatura, naan or paratha.

How To Use Canned Chickpeas

1. Drain the canned chickpeas using a sieve and rinse 1-2 times.
2. Steep 1 tea bag in 1 - 1.5 cup water for 5 minutes. Or you can brew loose black tea leaves in a small saucepan. Strain once brewed.
3. Once you heat up the oil, temper with the whole spices that we added while boiling the chickpeas and fry for few seconds to infuse the flavors.
4. Add the tea that we brewed earlier while the chickpeas are simmering.

Recipe Tips

1. Please keep in mind that the heat levels (& sometimes salt level too) in every store bought chole masala powder is different, so please adjust the quanity of salt, green chilies & red chilli powder as per your taste when you make this recipe.
2. You could also add a bit of garam masala and little kasoori methi as finishing flavors to pindi chole.