One of the first Indian dishes that Daniëlle learned to make was chole, a chickpea curry with tomato and various spices. I thought Indian cooking was very difficult, however this dish was the opposite of that. You just have to try it and luckily there are many variations possible, so it is not so easy to notice when you make it different.
What do you need for 4 people?
300 grams of rice
1 large red onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 cm fresh ginger
2 large tomatoes
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 cinnamon stick (2cm)
4 cardamom pods
4 cloves
One hand cashew nuts
60 ml coconut milk
720 grams chickpeas (drained)
1 tsp salt
0.5 tsp black pepper
0.5 tsp chili powder (optional)
1.5 tsp chana masala
Hand fresh coriander
1 lime
What should you do?
1. Cook the rice according to the package.
2. Meanwhile, finely chop the onion, garlic and ginger and fry together with the cumin seeds in 1.5 tbsp sunflower oil. After 1 minute, add the cinnamon stick, cloves and cardamom. Stir well and cook until the onion becomes translucent. Then you can add the cashew nuts and tomato in coarse pieces.
3. Bake for about 2 minutes and then transfer it to a blender along with 60 ml coconut milk. Mix it until smooth.
4. Let the mixture rest and add the chickpeas to the pan, fry for 30 seconds, then add the spices: 1 tsp salt, 0.5 tsp black pepper, 0.5 tsp chili powder (optional) and 1.5 tsp chana masala mix.
5. Stir for about 2 minutes and add the mixture from the blender to the pan. Then let it cook for 10 minutes on low heat, with a lid on the pan. Finely chop a handful of fresh coriander and let it cook for the last 2 minutes.
6. Serve the rice with chickpea curry on a plate and sprinkle with a little lime juice.