Punjabi Style Chickpea Salad Recipes

CHANA CHAAT

Steps:

• Soak 1 cup kabuli chana (white chickpeas) in enough water overnight or for 8 to 9 hours. Later drain all the water. Rinse the chickpeas in running water and again drain the water. You can also use 2.5 to 3 cups canned chickpeas. if using canned chickpeas, then you just need to mix the spices, onions, tomatoes etc and enjoy the chole chaat.
• Take the chickpeas in a 2-litre pressure cooker. Add ½ teaspoon salt and 2 cups water.
• Place a bowl on top of the chickpeas. Rinse and keep a medium to large potato inside the bowl. You can skip the potato if you want.
• Cover tightly with the lid and initially pressure cook on medium flame. When you start hearing the hissing sound in the cooker, lower the flame a bit and cook for 10 to 12 whistles.
• When the pressure falls on its own, then only remove the lid.
• Check the potato by sliding a knife or fork through it. The fork or knife should slide easily.
• Also check the chickpeas. You should be able to mash the cooked chickpeas easily. There should be no hardness in the center. The chickpeas should have a melt in the mouth texture. If the chickpeas is not cooked, then add some more water and pressure cook for a few more minutes.
• Drain all the water and keep the cooked chickpeas aside.
• Peel the potato once it becomes warm. Then chop and keep aside.
• Rinse, peel and then finely the onion, tomato and chilli. Also rinse and then finely chop some coriander leaves. Keep aside.
• Take the cooked chickpeas in a mixing bowl.
• Add all the spice powders - kashmiri red chilli powder, roasted cumin powder and chaat masala. Add both black salt and regular salt as per taste. For some tang, you can also add ½ teaspoon dry mango powder (amchur powder).
• Add the chopped potatoes. Mix very well so the spice powders and salt coats the potatoes and chickpeas.
• Add the finely chopped onions, finely chopped tomatoes, chopped green chillies and coriander leaves.
• Add 1 to 2 teaspoons lemon juice or add as required.
• Again mix very well. Check the taste and you can add salt, chaat masala, red chilli powder, green chillies, lemon juice more if you want.
• Serve chana chaat in a bowl instantly. While serving garnish with some coriander leaves and sev. Adding sev is optional. You can even garnish with some crushed papdi or pani poori.

PUNJABI CHANA

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, heat oil and add onion. Sauté until translucent and soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, ginger and chili, and sauté until soft and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and 1/4 cup water. Cover and cook until tomatoes are very soft, about 5 minutes, then remove from heat.
• Purée mixture in blender or food processor until smooth. Return to pan and place over medium heat. Add paprika, 1 teaspoon salt, coriander, the garam masala, turmeric and lemon juice. Add chickpeas and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low.
• Cover and simmer until sauce is thick and chickpeas are soft, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Stir pan about every 10 minutes, adding water as needed (up to 1 1/2 cups) to prevent burning. When ready to serve, sauce should be thick. If necessary, uncover pan and allow sauce to reduce for a few minutes, stirring frequently, until desired consistency. Stir in cilantro, adjust salt as needed and serve with cooked rice, if desired.

EASY PUNJABI-STYLE CHICKPEA AND POTATOES

Steps:

• Rinse and drain the chickpeas and potatoes thoroughly.
• In a saucepan, mix them together with the canola oil so all the pieces are thoroughly coated. I listed 1/4 cup to start with-- but add more if there's not enough to coat the food.
• Add all the seasonings listed, then mix together until thoroughly blended.
• Turn on high heat until oil starts bubbling.
• Lower the heat to medium-low, cover, and let simmer for 10 minutes, stir it occasionally to make sure pieces don't get stuck to the bottom of the pot.
• Remove from the heat element and let sit on a trivet for 5 minutes still covered.
• Uncover and enjoy! It's like eating samosa filling! Great with naan, a good curry, or as a wonderful side dish/accompaniment to prantha, bhajia, rice and dal, curried vegetables, or mash it up a bit to use for samosa and masala dosa filling.