Recipe: Chhole (Chickpea Curry)

I hosted my book club last night and thematically served an all vegetarian, Indian-with-a-hint-of-Anglo meal (we read "The Indian Clerk," historical fiction but very much based on reality - the story of the Cambridge don and mathematician G. H. Hardy's encounter with the genius-but-unschooled mathematician and upper caste vegetarian Srinivasa Ramanujan, brought to Trinity College from South India and treated as an exotic specimen of "Hindoo calculator" by Hardy and his colleagues).

The menu: hariyali tikki sandwiches; chhole (chickpea curry) served with imli chutney and brown basmati with browned onions and peas; avial (yogurt curry); gobi masala (cauliflower) with chapatis; chopped raw mushrooms, mild radishes, and baby japanese turnips tossed with chaat masala and lemon and lime juice; red onion salad; and butternut squash raita. One of the book club members brought lemon almond whole grain tea bread and we had that with Concord grapes for dessert.

The cinnamon stick swells up with the curry and imparts a woody spiciness to the whole dish.

Chhole for 8 (served alongside other dishes)

1 1/2 Cups chickpeas, soaked overnight (or ~2 Cups cooked chickpeas)

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 1/2 yellow onions, chopped finely

3 whole cloves

1 cinnamon stick (about the length of your forefinger)

1" piece ginger, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

Salt and black pepper to taste

1 tsp. red chilli powder (optional)

1-2 tbsp. garam masala (to taste)

4 huge or 6 normal-sized tomatoes, skins removed, chopped

If using uncooked chickpeas: about 2 Cups boiling hot water

Leaves from half a bunch of cilantro, washed, drained, and chopped

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a soup pot or pressure cooker pot until hot. Add the chopped onions, cloves, and cinnamon stick and saute until the onions are translucent. Add the ginger and garlic and saute until fragrant (don't let the ginger-garlic brown; don't worry if the onion browns a little). Add the chickpeas, salt, black pepper, red chilli powder (optional), and garam masala and stir to combine thoroughly, until each chickpea is coated with the mixture of oil, onions, ginger-garlic, and spices and the chickpeas are heated through. Then add the tomatoes, stir, add additional salt if necessary, and turn the heat up and bring to boil (at this point, add the boiling water if using uncooked chickpeas), stirring.

If you're using uncooked chickpeas and a pressure cooker, follow the instructions to pressure cook the chickpea curry at this point. If you're using uncooked chickpeas and a regular pot, cover and reduce to medium low heat and simmer until the chickpeas are cooked, ~2 hours. If you're using cooked chickpeas and either a pressure cooker or a regular pot, do not pressure cook, just simmer covered until the tomatoes have broken down into a thick curry (~15 minutes).

Then, at the end, if there is extra liquid, remove the cover and boil until the liquid is reduced, depending on how watery versus thick you want it to be.

Stir in the chopped cilantro after removing from heat but while still hot, just before serving.