Quickfire Chole (Dark & Spicy Chickpea Curry)
Our friend Raj is Punjabi, and Dave first fell in love with chole when he was in India for a wedding a few years ago. Traditionally, the chickpeas are soaked overnight in black tea to give them that deep colour and rich, earthy flavour. So we’ve found a quickfire way to get those same tea-infused flavours in just 25 minutes, so you still get all those beautiful tea-infused flavours without the overnight wait!
Takes 25 minutes
Serves 4
Ingredients
Whole spices
- 30 ml 2 tbsp neutral cooking oil or coconut oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 green cardamom pods lightly crushed
- 2 –3 whole cloves
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 small cinnamon stick or piece of cassia bark
For the tea-steeped chickpeas
- 800 g about 3½ cups cooked chickpeas, from 1 large jar or 2 x 400g tins, rinsed and drained
- 1 black tea bag such as English Breakfast or Barry’s Tea
- 200 ml ¾ cup + 1 tbsp water
Aromatics
- 150 g 1 large yellow onion, finely diced
- 15 g 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 3 garlic cloves finely chopped or minced
- 1 green chilli slit lengthways, optional
- 200 g ¾ cup + 1 tbsp tomato passata or crushed tomatoes
Spices & finish
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- ½ –1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder or mild chilli powder/paprika
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 15 ml 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
To serve: Fresh coriander and thinly sliced fresh ginger
Instructions
Steep the chickpeas
- Add the drained chickpeas, 200ml (¾ cup + 1 tbsp) water and the tea bag to a small saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 5 minutes, allowing the chickpeas to take on that deep, dark colour. Remove the tea bag and set the chickpeas aside in their tea-infused liquid.
Bloom the whole spices
- Heat the oil in a large, deep frying pan over a medium heat. Add the cumin seeds, cardamom, cloves, bay leaf and cinnamon. Fry for 30–60 seconds until the cumin starts to sizzle and the spices become really fragrant.
Build the base
- Add the diced onion and cook for 5–6 minutes, stirring regularly, until soft and deeply golden. Add the ginger, garlic and green chilli, if using, and cook for another minute.
- Add the tomatoes and ground spices
- Add the passata, ground coriander, turmeric, chilli powder and salt. Stir everything together and cook for 2–3 minutes, allowing the tomatoes to cook down and the spices to bloom.
Add the chickpeas
- Pour the chickpeas and all of their dark, tea-infused liquid into the pan. Stir well, then use the back of a wooden spoon or a potato masher to roughly crush about a quarter of the chickpeas. This releases their starch and helps create a thick, rich gravy.
- Simmer uncovered for around 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Finish and serve
- Take off the heat and stir through the garam masala and fresh lemon juice. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.
- Finish with fresh coriander and thinly sliced ginger, then serve with basmati rice, naan or bhatura.