Peshawri Chana
Peshawar is a city located in a large valley close to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. It is home to the rustic and delightful Peshawari cuisine, which has also managed to leave its mark on Punjabi food. This influence can be prominently seen in a dish called Peshawari Chana. It consists of boiled chickpeas (kabuli chana) flavoured with hot Indian spices and packs a powerful punch. One thing to be kept in mind while preparing this dish is that it requires a bit of prior planning, as the chickpeas need to be kept soaked for about 8 hours. I have used a unique flavouring technique here, by tying aromatic tea leaves (chai patti) in a muslin cloth and putting it in a pressure cooker, where the boiled chickpeas gets authentic black colour. Plenty of spices have been used in this recipe, but garam masala imparts the signature spicy touch to the dish. If you are in a hurry, you can also use readymade chana masala powder. Pomegranate seed powder (anardana) imparts a sour taste to the gravy. Peshawari Chana can be served along with roti or Puri. In any form, it is a delicious treat for the taste buds.
You may also like the recipes of Dum aalo Punjabi, Amritsari Dal, Punjabi Dal Fry, Punjabi Kadhi
How to make Peshawri Chana
Ingredients
| Chickpeas (kabuli chana) | 200 gram |
| Onion (payaz), finely chopped | 1/2 cup |
| Tomato (tamater), finely chopped | 1/2 cup |
| Green chillies (hari mirch), finely chopped | 2 tea spoon |
| Garlic (lahsan), paste | 1 table spoon |
| Ginger (adrakh), paste | 1 table spoon |
| Bay leaves (tej patta) | 2 |
| Cumin (jeera) powder | 1 tea spoon |
| Coriander (dhaniya) powder | 2 table spoon |
| Red chilli (lal mirch) powder | 1 tea spoon |
| Hot spices (garam masala) powder | 1 tea spoon |
| Pomegranate seed (anardana) powder | 2 tea spoon |
| Salt | to taste |
| Vegetable oil | 3 table spoon |
Method
- 1. Soak the chickpeas overnight in water.
- 2. Once soaked properly, put 5-6 cups of water in the pressure cooker and add chickpeas and salt. Tie tea leaves in a piece of muslin cloth and put this in cooker. Boil this until chickpeas becomes soft and dark in colour.
- 3. Once boiled remove tea leaves from the cooker and strain chick peas and keep aside.
- 4. Heat oil in a heavy based pan. Add bay leaf and cook it for 30 seconds.
- 5. Now add chopped onions and fry till they become golden brown in colour.
- 6. Add ginger- garlic paste, green chillies and cook it for one minute
- 7. Now add chopped tomatoes, chilli powder, coriander powder and cumin powder and stir and cook till oil gets separated.
- 8. Add boiled chickpeas, pomegranate seed powder and 1 cup of water. Add salt and cook it well.
- 9. Cook on medium flame for 12 -15 minutes or till chickpea gets coated with the thick spices.
- 10. Add hot spices powder, mix well and serve hot.
- Recipe Type : Curries, Green Vegetables, Punjab, Regional, Vegetarian, Vegetarian
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