Aloo Chole

This yummy Indian dish is meatless, but you don't miss it!  Chickpeas and potatoes give this dish some substance and fragrances will heat up your kitchen.  Found this recipe on www.clookbook.com.  I had the hardest time finding the chana masala powder...ok, so i never did find it.  But somewhere I found a recipe of how to make your own...equally difficult to find ingredients.  SO!  I added about a tablespoon of Tamarind paste / concentrate which I found at Nugget Market to give it the tang.  Then I added a sprinkle of this and a sprinkle of that (cinnamon, allspice, cumin powder, ginger powder, coriander seeds).  I know you can order a box of the powder online, but I wanted to make it NOW!  Also, I didn't want to wait for the chickpeas to soak overnight so I used 2 cans rinsed.  Since the soak called for a tea bag, I made a cup of tea and diluted it to about half (adding water to make 1 cup) and then added it to the mix when called for.  Turned out super tasty.  Make sure to serve with Jasmine rice.

Aloo Chole

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dried chick peas (about half of a bag)
• 1 teabag
• 3 tablespoons oil (I use canola)
• 2 large red onions, chopped
• 2 large tomatoes, chopped
• 2 chili peppers (sub with jalapeños)
• 1-2 medium red potatoes
• 1/4 cup frozen green peas
• pieces of garam masala (1 bay leaf, 1 cinnamon stick, 5 cloves, 3 green cardamom pods)
• 1 tablespoon, cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon, turmeric powder
• 1 tablespoon grated ginger (or paste)
• 1 tablespoon grated garlic (or paste)
• 3 tablespoons, chana masala powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cayenne red pepper
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• 3 tablespoons, chopped cilantro; more for garnish
• 1 tablespoon salt

Preparation

• the night before: place dry chickpeas into a large bowl and presoak in water overnight (at least 4 hours). make sure the beans are submerged by a few inches of water as they will double in size

1. the next day: once chick peas have hydrated (overnight), it’s time to cook them. i prefer to cook them in a pressure cooker, which takes about 10 minutes. you can also boil them in a pot for about 60-90 minutes
2. pressure cooking: add enough water to submerge hydrated chic peas by 2 inches of water in the pressure cooker.  add 1 tablespoon oil (prevent foaming) and the teabag (darken the color of the beans). make sure not to fill pot more than 1/2 full. lock lid, heat on high-heat until pressure is on. lower heat to low and heat for 12 mins. remove from heat and release pressure
3. boiling: 1 cup dry beans, 3 cups water, 1 tablespoon oil, 1 teabag. bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer (partially covered). cook until beans are soft and can be smushed easily by hand (or utensil)
4. once chick peas are cooked, drain them making sure to reserve 1 cup of the liquid they were cooked in
5. while chickpeas cook, cut potatoes into quarters (if using a larger sized potato) and boil for 10-15 minutes or until a knife goes through potatoes with little resistance. when done, cut potatoes into bite sized pieces and set aside

Cooking the Dish

1. heat oil on medium-high heat and add garam masala and cumin seeds
2. add onion once cumin seeds begin to react with oil and season with a sprinkle of salt (about 1/2 teaspoon)
3. after 5 minutes cooking, add ginger, garlic and turmeric to the mixture (aka masala) and stir
4. cook until the onions are softened (~10 minutes) and then lower heat to medium
5. add tomatoes and chopped chilis, stirring occasionally until tomatoes are fully cooked (wilted and softened). this will take about 15 minutes
6. once tomatoes are cooked, add chana masala powder and stir until combined. cook for another 2 minutes
7. add 1 cup of water reserved from cooked chickpeas along with cooked chickpeas, potatoes, frozen peas and cayenne pepper and stir together
8. bring to a boil and then reduce to low-medium heat.  simmer uncovered for 20 minutes to allow the liquid to reduce and thicken
9. add salt, lemon juice and cilantro and cook for another 2 minutes
10. transfer to a serving bowl. garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with (naan) bread or basmati rice

Tips:

• shortcut: use 2 cans of chickpeas instead of the dry ones. substitute the chickpea water with regular water. make sure to rinse the goo off the chickpeas before placing into the masala (step 7 above)
• Indian ingredients: cinnamon sticks, cumin seeds, bay leafs, cardamom pods, cloves are non-perishable spices and can be purchased online at sites like www.kalustyans.com. buy them, store them in your pantry
• chana masala powder is a prepared combination of spices and can be purchased as well.