Dahi Chhole: Chickpeas in Yogurt Curry

I was looking for a chickpea recipe that did not call for onion, tomato, ginger or garlic, and I stumbled upon a Himachali dish called madra which is served during the dham food festival. Madra is a legume and yogurt combination with an array of aromatic spices – just the kind of recipe I wanted.

My version is lighter than the traditional madra recipe and calls for fewer spices, based primarily on what was on hand – I simply call it “dahi chhole” instead of madra as I have probably strayed too far from the template…

This recipe is adapted from the (gorgeously beautiful!) blog My Tryst With Food And Travel.

Ingredients:

[Serves 2]

For the chhole:

• Dried chickpeas / garbanzo beans – 1 cup
• Salt – to taste
• Water – 3 cups

For the yogurt curry:

• Plain yogurt – 2 cups
• Salt – to taste
• Turmeric powder – 1/3 teaspoon
• Chili powder – 1/3 teaspoon
• Cumin powder – 1/2 teaspoon

For the tadka:

• Raisins – 1 tablespoon
• Coriander seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
• Peppercorns – 4
• Green cardamom – 1
• Cinnamon stick – 1/2 inch
• Dried chili – 1
• Cloves – 2
• Bay leaf – 1
• Cumin seeds – 1/3 teaspoon
• Ghee – 1 tablespoon

In the picture above: (inner katori) cardamom pod, cinnamon, cloves, dry chili, cumin seeds; (outer katori) bay leaf, coriander seeds, pepper corns.

How To Make Dahi Chhole:

1. Soak and boil the chickpeas

Soak a small cup of chickpeas overnight in 3 cups of water. As they soak, the chickpeas would absorb the water, soften and plump up.

[Note: if you soak too long, a foamy layer might form on the water’s surface. If this happens, drain the water, rinse the chickpeas well and submerge again in fresh water till you’re ready to cook. In general, do not soak more than 8-9 hours.]

Drain the soaked chickpeas, rinse in a change of water.

Boil the chickpeas till soft. I do this in an Indian-style pressure cooker: add 3 cups of water to the soaked chickpeas along with a large pinch of salt. Lock the lid of the cooker, then boil on high heat till the pressure cooker gives off a whistle, then cook on low heat for another 15 minutes. Let the pressure in the cooker reduce naturally till the lid can come off easily.

Lift the boiled chickpeas out using a slotted spoon. Keep the water aside to either thin out the curry if you wish, or for kneading paratha dough.

2. Prep the yogurt

[Do this 1-2 hours before you plan to cook this curry]

Take the yogurt out of the refrigerator, let it reach room temperature before it is cooked.

Whisk the dry spice powders with the yogurt: turmeric powder, cumin powder, red chili powder, salt.

Whisk the yogurt well till smooth. Set aside till you are ready to cook.

3. Do the tadka

Place pepper corns, coriander seeds, cinnamon and cardamon pod in a mortar.

Using a pestle, crush them to a coarse powder.

In a thick bottomed pan, heat two teaspoons of ghee.

When the ghee is hot, add to it in quick succession: bay leaf, cumin seeds, cloves, dry chili.

As soon as the cumin seeds begin to crackle, tip the coarsely ground spices into the hot ghee. Stir quickly, then add a tablespoon of raisins. Give it one final stir and take the pan off the heat.

Let the pan cool to room temperature.

4. Put it all together

When the tadka pan has cooled, pour the seasoned yogurt into the pan.

Whisk very well.

Caution: You must wait till the tadka pan’s heat and yogurt’s coolness have converged towards a happy medium. Impatience at this step will lead to an ugly curdled curry.

Place the pan with the tadka-yogurt mixture back to cook. Now, with the heat set to very low and the ladle stirring the yogurt continuously, bring the curry to a gentle bubbling boil.

Add the boiled chickpeas into the yogurt curry. If you want a thinner curry, add some of the water the chickpeas were boiled in (that you had kept aside in step 1). Continue to cook for another 5 minutes, stirring all the while.

Dahi chhole is ready to eat.

Serve dahi chhole alongside jeera rice, parathas, pooris, or plain boiled rice for a delicious, filling meal.

Notes:

Try other ways of cooking chickpeas, Indian style: the classic Punjabi channa masala, methi chhole with a fresh fenugreek twist, vrat-friendly channa sundal with coconut, or a simple home-style aloo chhole.