Chickpeas coated in a thick and flavorful sauce! There are no onions or tomatoes in this recipe, just chickpeas, spices, and oil.
I never met my great grandmother. But I know how she made her cholay.
This is my great-grandmother’s recipe for Punjabi chikar cholay, as recited and passed down by memory through at least four generations. My great grandmother taught my Nani (maternal grandmother), and my Nani taught my mom. My mom taught me.
I consider this recipe unique because there’s no onion or ginger or garlic or tomatoes IN the recipe (though I do use ginger to garnish). And yet it’s extremely flavorful – in fact, I might go so far to say that it’s one of the most flavorful recipes on my blog.
What is Chikar Cholay?
Chikar cholay (or kichad chole) is a traditional Punjabi recipe (Indian and Pakistani). This dish gets its name from its consistency; chikar translates to mushy or muddy.
It has a distinct tangy flavor thanks to the dried green mango powder (amchur powder) and dried pomegranate powder (anardana powder). It also calls for roasted cumin powder and earthy black salt (kala namak). All of the spices in this recipe are important to getting the right flavor.
The anardana powder may be new to you. You can buy this powder at your local Indian grocery store or on amazon; it’s just ground up dried pomegranate seeds. This recipe calls for roasting the powder, which makes it very dark brown, nearly black in color. This spice, along with the roasted cumin powder, gives the chikar cholay its signature dark color and adds an incredible toasted, slightly fruity, tangy flavor.
Chikar cholay is different from the more popular chana masala in that it is only flavored with spices and oil, whereas chana masala calls for onions, ginger, garlic, and tomatoes. Both recipes call for a different blend of spices.
Some thicken this muddy chole with masoor dal (red lentils), chana dal, or with potatoes. My family’s recipe doesn’t call for any of those ingredients. We mash the chickpeas a bit, and it works great. The sauce thickens on its own after a few minutes, once the spices really soak in the oil.
Wait! What’s the white foamy stuff on my chickpeas?
After you pressure cook the chickpeas, you may open the lid to find white frothy stuff on top of the beans. Don’t freak out.
If you see foam on your chickpeas, it’s just aquafaba. Many vegan baked goods actually use this stuff because it’s known to be a good substitute for egg whites. You can scoop it out or keep it on – I don’t bother removing it.
Here’s how to make this simple recipe:
The first step is to the cook chickpeas:
While they’re cooking, dry roast the anardana powder on the stovetop and then mix it with the other spices. If you don’t already have roasted cumin powder on hand, now is a good time to make this as well.
Once the chickpeas are done, spread the spices in a layer overtop. Then heat oil and pour it on top of the spices. This cooks the spices and helps bring out their flavor.
Mix it all up, mashing a few chickpeas along the way, and watch as the oil soaks up the sauce and thickens. Amazing!
Some food and family history:
My great-grandmother was born and raised in Sialkot, Punjab, which was part of India until the Partition of 1947, that’s when the British split India (and the state of Punjab) into two: India and Pakistan. That’s why this Punjabi chikar cholay is both an Indian and a Pakistani dish.
My great-grandma was apparently a good cook and also a traditional cook. She’d cook family meals over firewood and coal. She’d churn cream into butter (makhan) in a clay pot using a wooden stick (madani), then boil it into ghee.
She also heavily relied on home remedies, she’d cook and eat adrak lasan (ginger garlic) sabzi, which she deemed helpful for joint pain, and she taught my mom how to make this lemon pickle to help with digestion (for the record, she was definitely not in the medical field).
I sort of feel like she and I are similar in some ways – I also enjoy cooking, and I also often attempt to feed my (skeptical) family members (hi, Roby) recipes that I believe will help with their ailments (like turmeric gummies and besan ka sheera).
I really wonder what she’d think of me adapting one of her traditional recipes with my instant pot. I want to think she’d think it was cool.
I wish I could share a photo of her with you, but I’ve never seen one myself. In fact, even my mom only has one photo from her own childhood in India (which is hard for me to believe as I just upgraded cloud storage because I can’t stop taking photos of my kids… man, times are different).
I didn’t know my great-grandma but cooking this dish makes me feel a little more connected to her and my family. Hopefully, when you make this recipe, you’ll feel a bit more connected to me and any others enjoying this same dish. I think that’s one of the greatest things about food – that it connects us all.
You can serve this dish with an Indian flatbread (naan, roti, poori, bhatura). This dish has a thick sauce, which is how my family likes it, but feel free to add more water at the end if you prefer a thinner curry. Let me know what you think of this dish!
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried chickpeas soaked overnight
- 2 cups water
Spices
- 2 tablespoons anardana powder pomegranate seed powder, roasted* (see directions)
- 1 Indian bay leaf tej patta
- 2 tablespoons amchoor powder
- 2 tablespoons coriander powder
- 2 tablespoons roasted cumin powder* see notes
- 2 teaspoons paprika or Kashmiri chilli powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon black salt kala namak
- ½ teaspoon cardamom powder
- ½ teaspoon cayenne
- ½ cup neutral oil
Garnish:
- 2 small Indian green chilies slit in half
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- 1- inch ginger julienned (cut into thin strips)
Instructions
- Place the dried chickpeas in a large bowl and cover with 2 inches of cold water. The chickpeas will absorb water and expand in size, so make sure to use a large bowl. Drain and rinse the beans.
- Add the rinsed chickpeas and 2 cups of water to the instant pot and cook for 35 minutes at high pressure.
- Naturally release pressure.
- While waiting for the pressure to release, go ahead and roast the pomegranate powder by dry roasting it in a pan on the stovetop over medium heat. Stir-fry for 4-5 minutes, or until very dark brown (nearly black).
- Add this roasted pomegranate powder to a bowl along with the rest of the spices and mix well.
- Open the lid and use a spoon to sprinkle the spices on top of the chickpeas (do not mix spices with chickpeas yet! Leave spices in a layer on top of the chickpeas).
- Heat ½ cup of oil on the stovetop and once hot, pour the oil over the spices on top of the chickpeas.
- Mix well, mashing a few chickpeas with a spoon as you mix to help thicken the sauce. The sauce will thicken significantly after a few minutes.
- Top with small Indian green chilies, cilantro, and julienned ginger.
Nily says
What is the cook time and water for 1 cup of soaked chickpeas?
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Nily, if you plan to halve this recipe, I would still keep the cook time the same. Let me know how it goes!
Neha says
I made this for a quick working weekday lunch .. unbelievable how much flavor is packed into this considering no onion garlic or tomatoes.
My Heart Beets says
Neha, I’m so glad you liked it 🙂 Thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you!
Neil says
I made this last night, and really.enjoyed it. I didn’t think I would given the lack of onion, tomato, ginger, and garlic. But it was chatpata and delicious. I perhaps will pressure cook the channas a bit longer to make them more mushy. Thank you.
My Heart Beets says
Neil, glad you tried and liked it! Thanks for sharing how this turned out for you 🙂
Elyse says
This was phenomenal! We really enjoyed it, and made delicious puffs with the leftovers!
My Heart Beets says
Elyse, that’s so great to hear! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you 🙂
Deepak Jolly says
Ashley, you forgot to mention if we are supposed to add green or black cardamom. I know the response might be delayed so going with green for now but if my memory of India serves me right it perhaps was black. Too late anyways. Thanks Ashley.
My Heart Beets says
Hi Deepak, thanks for reaching out! You’ll want to use ground green cardamom powder for this recipe so I’m glad you went with that. I do use whole black cardamom in my chana masala recipe recipe. Hope you like this one!
Chitra says
Hi Ashley
I really enjoyed reading your family history. Recipes passed down through generations are no less than heirlooms. Your great grandma and your whole family must be so proud! Thanks for sharing this recipe. I’ll let you know when I’ll make it.
My Heart Beets says
Thank you, Chitra! I’m so glad you liked the post – hope you enjoy the recipe just as much 🙂
Apartment Datt says
I have store bought dried anar Dana not the powder . These seeds are bit sticky . How do I use these for the above recipe.
My Heart Beets says
Hi, hmm I guess dried pomegranate seeds can be a bit sticky. You should be able to grind them into powder and then roast it. Let me know how it goes 🙂
Bala Cherla says
Came out just right! Loved the tanginess. Thank you for the story on this Ashley!
My Heart Beets says
Thanks, Bala! I’m so glad you liked the recipe and the story 🙂
Mary says
Thanks for the recipe, pls clarify as I have a few qns.
Is 2 cup water enough to cook 2 cup Channa.
Is it okay to dry roast all the spices after roasting the pomegranate powder?
Do we keep the pot on sauté mode when we add the spices followed by hot oil, if so how long?
If not, how will it thicken up?
Thanks again Ashley.
My Heart Beets says
Hi Mary, yes it’s enough to cook soaked chana 🙂 You only need to dry roast the pomegranate powder and roasted cumin powder, the rest of the spices will cook when you pour hot oil on top of them. No, you don’t need to use sauté mode when adding the oil – I wouldn’t do that as it may dry up the water in the pot.
Jenita says
I made this last night!! Delicious and so easy to make. All my vegetarian friends loved it!!!
My Heart Beets says
Jenita, I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for letting me know how the cholay turned out for you and your friends 🙂