A chana masala is one of the most delicious ways to enjoy the healthful goodness of garbanzo beans and it’s one of the recipes most requested by my friends when they come over for dinner. Sometimes, when I want something a little different, I make these Pindi chole or Amritsari chole, a chana masala with an entrancing spin.
What is Pindi chole?
Pindi chole or Amritsari chole is a variation of chana masala cooked across the contiguous Punjab state of India and Punjab province of Pakistan. “Pindi” is short for Rawalpindi, in Pakistan, and Amritsar is a city in Punjab, India. There are minor differences between Pindi chole and Amritsari chole, but there are many more similarities: both dishes include a unique ingredient, black tea. And both are tangier than an average chana masala, thanks to the use of anardana, or pomegranate seed, and amchur, or dried mango powder. The chole is cooked in a cast iron karahi, a small wok, which, along with the tea and the anardana, helps add a dark, almost blackish hue to the final dish. Some cooks also add dried gooseberry, or amla, to deepen the color. I didn’t want to risk stripping the seasoning of my cast iron skillets with tomatoes and other acidic ingredients so I used an enameled Dutch oven instead. This doesn’t give the chole as dark a color as you might get in a cast iron karahi, but it is just as delicious.
How to make Pindi Chole
More delicious Indian chickpea recipes
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