Pindi chole ~ Pindi chana ~ Vegan Chickpeas Curry

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Pindi chole is a type of curry made with chana/ chickpeas with a light coating of spices/ gravy. It tends to be a tad bit drier than the conventional chole or chana masala. While I was reading up about this chole I came across various sources that mentioned that this chole originated in Rawalpindi. I also came across a few that stated that this kind of chole originates from villages in northern India known as pind, hence the name.  I am not sure about the origin of this chole , but I am sure about about one thing this is one amazingly tasty chole variety and I am always happy to have this on my menu :)

Just as for so many other recipes, this chole too has a lot of versions, some with onions, some without, some with tomatoes and some without,  so on and so forth. I have tried a few versions myself, but this version is the one I like the most and make most frequently.  Cooking the chickpeas with spices and tea infuses it with a light flavor and aroma from the spices and a lovely hue from the tea leaves. Try this delicious chole with some rotis/ kulchas / phulkas or even some puris/ bhatura if you are not counting calories and enjoy :)

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Ingredients and Method to make Pindi choley ( Adapted from this recipe)

1 and 1/2 cups chickpeas/ kabuli chana

1 onion cut fine ( pyaaz)

1 cup tomato purée ( I needed 2 med tomatoes for this ) ( tamatar )

2 Thai or Indian variety green chilies cut fine ( or to taste ) ( hari mirch)

1 and 1/2 Tbsp oil

1 tsp  ginger garlic paste ( adrak / lehsun)
1/2 tsp chili powder (or to taste) (lal mirch)

2 tsp chana masala ( or to taste)

Salt to taste

For the spice bag

1 and 1/2 tsp loose black tea ( chai patti)

1 and 1/2 stick of cinnamon ( dalchini)

2 black cardamom ( badi elaichi)

A thin muslin cloth/ cheese cloth to make the spice bag

Soak chickpeas/ chana overnight in sufficient water. Make a spice bag/ potli with cinnamon, black cardamom and loose tea.  That is, place the spices in a thin muslin cloth, or 2 layers of cheese  cloth and make into a small bag by bringing opposite sides of the cloth and making a knot in the center. Keep this aside.

Drain chickpeas, fill with  fresh water, add 1 tsp salt and spice bag, close with a lid, place in a pressure cooker and cook until soft. It usually takes me about 4 to 5 whistles in the pressure cooker.  Allow pressure to subside before opening the cooker. Discard the spice bag and keep the cooked chickpeas aside.

Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed pan. Add onions and green chilies and sauté until onions turn translucent. Add ginger garlic paste and stir a few times.

Add tomato purée, chana masala powder and stir until the mixture thickens a little. Add cooked chickpeas along with any water it was cooked in, adjust salt to taste and simmer until gravy thickens just enough to coat the chickpeas.

I forgot to take a pic of the chole just as it got done, will try and update it when I make it again :) 

Remove from heat and serve hot with phulkas / puris / bhaturas / Indian bread

If you are looking for recipes with chickpeas/ chana here are a few more

Chana Masala ~ Vegan Chickpeas curry

Chana Palak ~ Spinach and Chickpeas Curry

Chana Poha ~ Beaten rice flakes with chickpeas

Aloo Chana Chaat ~ Potato and Chickpeas Snack

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Kaddu ka Bharta ~ Vegan Butternut squash / Pumpkin curry

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Fall is officially here, although some days it is so warm here that it feels more like summer than fall. But the vegetable section at our local grocery definitely feels like fall with the variety of squash available there. I like all kinds of squash, but butternut squash and pumpkins are particular favorites of mine. Both of these are so versatile that they can easily be used in everything from curries to soups to baking. Usually when I feel like making curry with butternut squash curry, I tend to make something simple like this curry . But recently when I purchased butternut squash I felt like making something "different" for a change of pace.

A quick search online led me to this recipe of kaddu ka bharta on Tarla Dalal's site that sounded intriguing. The only kind of bharta I have ever tasted is one made with eggplants/ baingan ka bharta. She had made the curry with pumkins/ kaddu but I decided to adapt and make something similar with butternut squash. If you are watching your calories, here is a cool bit of info about the calorie content of both butternut squash and pumpkins. 1 cup of 1 inch pieces of butternut squash has just 63 calories and pumpkin has even less with 1 cup of 1 inch pieces of pumpkin having just 30 calories. This was such an easy and flavorful curry, the four kinds of seeds used in it gives it a very unique flavor. It is also very easy to make and works well with any kind of phulka/ flat bread/ roti. 

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Ingredients and method to make kaddu ka bharta (adapted from this recipe)

8 cups of peeled and cubed pieces of butternut squash (or pumpkin/ kaddu/ paringikai)

1 red onion cut fine ( pyaaz/ vengayam)

2 Tbsp oil

1 tsp cumin seeds ( jeera/ jeeragam)

1 tsp fennel seeds ( saunf / sombu)

1/2 tsp nigella seeds/ onion seeds ( kalonji / karunjeeragam)

1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds ( methi seeds / mendiyam)

3 Thai or Indian variety green chilies cut fine ( hari mirch/ pachai molagai)

1/4 tsp turmeric powder ( haldi/ manjal podi)

2 tsp dry mango powder ( amchur powder ) ( see notes )

Salt to taste ( namak/ uppu)

1/2 tsp red chili powder ( or to taste) ( lal mirch/ thani molaga podi) ( see notes)

3 - 4 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro for garnish ( coriander leaves/ hara dhania / kothamalli ) 

Peel and cube butternut squash/ pumpkin/ kaddu into 3/4 inch pieces. Cut onion and keep aside.

In a large heavy bottomed pan, heat oil on medium heat. Add cumin, fennel, onion seeds and fenugreek seeds and stir a few times. When the seeds begin to sizzle and the fenugreek/ methi begins to brown a little add green chilies and onions and sauté until onions turn translucent.

Add butternut squash / pumpkin pieces, all the spices, salt to taste, a little water. Mix well, cover with a lid and cook until the squash/ pumpkin is cooked and soft. Stir frequently to ensure even cooking and add more water if required. Once the squash/ pumpkin is cooked, mash gently with the back of a spatula until some of the pieces are mashed and some still hold a bit more shape. Add more water if required to achieve required consistency and simmer for a few minutes until the flavors mingle.

Garnish with cilantro/ coriander leaves. 

Serve hot with phulkas/ flat bread/ rotis.

Serves approx 4 

Notes:

If you scale down the heat from green chilies/ chili powder, do scale down the dry mango powder/ amchur powder a tad bit.

This recipe can be halved if required.

If you are looking for curries that go well with phulkas/ rotis/ flatbread, here are a few more....

Butternut squash/ Pumpkin curry  ~ Kaddu ki sabzi

Mixed Vegetable Kurma ~ Broccoli Peas Curry

Tomato Coconut Curry ~ Thakkali Kozhambu

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Barley payasam ~ Jau ki kheer ~ Indian Milk pudding with barley

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Festival season means there are a lot of occasions for making sweets these days. The other day  when I was flipping through a channel I came across a cooking show that was showcasing a barley kheer that looked and sounded really promising. Since the very next day was Ganesh chathurthi, I decided to add one more sweet for the occasion and included barley kheer on my to do list. Luckily I had all the ingredients on hand and I did not have to make a run to the grocery store just because of my last minute addition :)

Since I was cooking at the time of the show, I did not note down the proportions, just made a mental list of the ingredients. I went with my instincts with regard to proportions, but the kheer turned out very well. Definitely a winner, it was quick, easy and delicious. It hardly took anytime at all to get done, it was pretty effortless. This is the first time I used barley in a sweet dish, usually any time I reach for barley it is to use it in some kind of savory recipe.  If the thought of using barley in a kheer/ payasam intrigues you too, give this one a try and enjoy it with your family for any festive occasion or even just to indulge over the weekend :)

 
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Ingredients and Method to make Barley Payasam  (adapted from a tv program)
1/4 cup pearl barley (jau/ vargodumai)

2 and 1/2 cups whole milk (doodh/ paal)

1/4 cup sugar (shakkar/ sakkarai) (see notes)

1/4 tsp green cardamom seed powder (choti elaichi/ ellakai)

1 Tbsp clarified butter (ghee/ nei)

Garnish

5 almonds cut fine (badam)

1 Tbsp broken cashew (kaju)

Soak barley in sufficient water overnight. Drain and fill with fresh water and pressure cook until soft. About 3 whistles in the pressure cooker is sufficient to cook the barley.

Heat ghee in a heavy bottomed pan, add cashews and almonds and stir until golden brown.Add cooked barley and stir a couple of times. Break off lumps if any.

Add milk and sugar and simmer for a few minutes until milk thickens to desired consistency. Do keep in mind, the kheer thickens further when cool. Add cardamom powder and mix well. Simmer another minute or two.

Remove from heat, serve hot, at room temperature or chilled.

Serves approx 2 to 3

Notes:
With this quantity of sugar, the kheer turns out mildly sweet, if you want a more pronounced sweetness, you can increase the quantity of sugar to 1/2 cup or to taste.

If you are looking Kheer/ Payasam/ Indian pudding recipes, here are a few more

Oats Poha Kheer ~ Oats Aval payasam ~ Beaten rice flakes pudding

Gajar kaju kheer ~ Carrot cashew payasam

Badam Kheer ~ Payasam ~ Indian almond pudding

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Kadai Mushroom ~ Khumb ki Sabzi ~ Vegan Mushroom Curry ~ With StepwisePictures

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It fascinates me how slight variations in some ingredients can alter the taste of a recipe so much. I have noticed this many times in cooking, most recently when I made this Gujarati style cauliflower curry. Even though I used onion and tomatoes for the cauliflower curry as I did before in other curries,  adding the tomatoes at the end altered the taste and gave the curry a very fresh and interesting taste.

Similarly for this kadai mushroom curry, I use pretty much the gravy base that I used for this kadai paneer dish, yet the mushrooms and the slightly different proportions give this curry a whole different taste and texture. This curry is very quick and flavorful, and tastes great with any kind of phulka/ naan/ roti or even with some plain steamed rice and dhal.

If you are looking for mushroom recipes, check out some of the other mushroom recipes in this space,

Mushroom pulao ~Mushroom rice
Mushroom in yogurt gravy curry ~ Sabzi 
Mushroom peas curry ~ Khumb Matar Sabzi
Creamy vegan mushroom curry

 
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Ingredients and Method to make Mushroom curry
4 and 1/2 cups cubed button mushrooms (khumb)
1 onion cut fine (pyaaz/vengayam)
2 large tomatoes cut fine = 2 and 1/2 cups of cut pieces (tamatar/thakkali)
1 Tbsp oil
2 cloves of garlic cut fine (lehsun/poondu)
1 tsp chopped ginger (adrak/inji)
3/4 tsp garam masala ( to make your own garam masala check out this post)
1 tsp + 1 1/2 dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi)
1/4 tsp chili powder (or to taste) (lal mirch/molagai podi)
salt to taste (namak/uppu)

Dry roast and grind
1 Tbsp coriander seeds (dhania/kothamalli virai)
3 dry red chilies (lal mirch/molagai vathal)

In a small pan roast coriander seeds and dry red chilies for about 30 seconds or so, stirring continuously to ensure even roasting, until it is warm and aromatic. Remove from heat, cool and grind to a fine powder.

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Add ginger and garlic to it and stir until the garlic begins to brown.

Add onions and sauté until onions turn translucent. Add coriander and chili powder from above and stir for a few more seconds.

Add tomatoes, garam masala, 1/2 tsp kasuri methi and 1/2 tsp salt and stir until tomatoes are cooked and soft. 

Remove from heat, cool and purée this mixture until smooth. Return the purée to the same pan. Add a little water to it and mix well. 

Add cubed mushrooms, salt to taste, 1 and 1/2 tsp kasuri methi and allow to simmer until mushrooms are cooked and soft. Remember that salt has already been added to the onion tomato mixture so just a little is required at this point. Add water if required to achieve required consistency and allow to simmer for a few additional seconds for the favors to mingle.

Remove from heat and serve curry with plain steamed rice, or phulkas /chapathis/ Naan/ kulcha or any other kind of flat bread. 

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Methi Malai Matar ~ Creamy Green Peas Curry ~ With Stepwise pictures

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Methi malai matar is a classic and popular creamy  curry made with green peas and  fresh fenugreek leaves. Matar = green peas, methi = fenugreek leaves and malai = cream, so the name pretty much says it all. This curry tastes awesome with any kind of phulka/ naan/ kulcha/ flat bread. Most versions of this curry that I come across liberally use cream in their recipes and most do not use any tomato puree. I used to make a version of this curry without tomato puree too earlier and like that version quite a bit too.  But recently I came across a version of this curry in a book I recently purchased,  called Punjabi subzis by Tarla Dalal which used tomato puree in it and did not use any cream.

Curious to see how it would taste, I gave it a whirl and really loved it. The tomato does make a difference to the taste of the curry, it balances out the flavors well and the curry tastes rich, creamy and delicious and this without any cream in it :) Since that first time I made it, I have made this a few times and have adapted the recipe a little, this final version is now my go to recipe for methi malai matar :)

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Ingredients and Method to make Methi Malai Matar
2 packed cups of  fresh fenugreek leaves (Methi / Mendiya keerai)
3 cups of green peas (matar) boiled until soft
1 cup tomato puree (from 3 medium tomatoes/ tamatar/ thakkalli)
2 Tbsp clarified butter (ghee/ nei) (can be substituted with a flavorless oil for a vegan version)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera/ jeeragam) 
1/2 onion cut fine (pyaaz/ vengayam)
salt to taste (namak/ uppu)
1 tsp sugar (shakkar/ sakkarai)
1 cup milk  (doodh/ paal)  (use non diary milk for a vegan version)

Masala Paste-To be ground into paste
2 and 1/2 Tbsp cashew pieces (kaju)
4 Thai or Indian variety green chilies (or to taste) (hari mirch/ pachai molagai)
1 tsp chopped ginger (adrak/ inji)
1/2 onion cut fine (pyaaz/ vengayam)
3 cloves of garlic (lehsun/ poondu)
2 tsp khus khus (poppy seeds)

Masala- Dry roast and grind
4 thin 1/2 inch pieces of cinnamon (dalchini / pattai)
2 cloves (lavang/ laung)
3 green cardamoms (elaichi/ ellakai)
5 whole black pepper (miri/ milagu)
1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera / jeeragam)

Dry roast all the  ingredients mentioned under masala for a few seconds, cool and grind to a fine powder, remove and keep aside.

Grind all the ingredients under masala paste into a smooth paste, using no water preferably, if needed add just a tsp at a time. Keep this paste aside.

Blanch the tomatoes. Blanching is the process of placing tomatoes in hot almost boiling water for a few minutes about 3 to 4 minutes until the skin cracks slightly.  Then transferring it into a bowl with cold water. When cooler, peel the skin. For this recipe, after peeling the skin, cut into small pieces and puree in a blender/mixer until it is smooth.

Boil green peas in enough water until it is soft and keep aside.

Rinse methi leaves, dry on a kitchen tissue and chop roughly. In a heavy bottomed pan, heat one tbsp oil clarified butter and add 1/2 tsp cumin seeds to it. When the seeds sizzle add methi leaves and stir for a couple of minutes until it has become soft. Remove and keep aside.

In the same pan, heat another tbsp of clarified butter/ ghee on medium heat and add onions and stir until onions turn translucent and begin to slightly brown. Lower heat and add ground masala paste to it and stir for another few minutes until the paste loses its raw smell. It took me about 3 to 4 minutes on low heat to get there.

Add tomato puree and dry powder and stir for a few more minutes until the tomato puree begins to thicken slightly.

Add boiled green peas, sauteed fenugreek/ methi leaves, salt to taste, sugar, milk and water as required to achieve required consistency and simmer for a few minutes for the flavors to mingle.

Remove and serve hot with rotis/ phulkas/ kulchas/ naans or with plain steamed rice/ jeera (cumin) rice/pulao

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