One of my favourite genre of TV shows is shows based on food. The top one right now is Raja, Rasoi and Kahaniya. Each episode is about a region of India and it’s history, food and all that influenced it. One such episode was about Punjab and the dish that caught our attention was Chole chicken from Lahore. This was a common dish found in every dhaba or highway eateries in pre-partition India. Unfortunately post partition, this dish completely disappeared from India which seems very hard to understand. I really wanted to recreate this iconic dish even if I am a vegan. After a lot of searching I found some disjointed mentions and recipes and went ahead to try my hand at it.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
Chicken, 1/2 Kg cut into curry size pieces
Chickpeas, boiled 2 cups
Onions 2, chopped
Oil 2 tbsp
Plain yoghurt, 1/4 cup whisked until smooth
Tomatoes, 2-3 crushed
Tomato paste/puree 1 tbsp
Ginger paste 1 tbsp
Garlic paste 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds 1 tsp
Cumin powder 1 tsp
Coriander powder 1 tsp
Red chilli powder 1 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
Garam masala 1/2 tsp
Chillies, slit 1-2 green
Salt to taste
Fresh coriander, chopped 2 tbsp
Method:
Heat oil, add the cumin seeds and allow them to splutter. Add the onions and fry until golden. Then add the ginger and garlic pastes, fry for a minute until fragrant. Now, add the tomato paste and the chopped tomatoes. Cook over medium heat until the tomatoes are all mushy and oil gets released from the sides.
Turn the heat up and add the chicken pieces. Sprinkle the cumin powder, coriander powder, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt, stir them in. Stir-fry the chicken pieces until they begin to take colour, then turn the heat down to medium and add the whisked yoghurt.
Then add about half a cup of water, mix well and then cover the pan and turn the heat down to low. Allow the chicken to simmer gently for about 10-15 minutes giving an occasional stir.
When the chicken is cooked add the chickpeas and stir them in. You can add some water depending on how much gravy you prefer. Let everything simmer together on very low heat for another 10 minutes, for a thicker gravy, mash some of the chickpeas and add it back into the gravy. Sprinkle the garam masala, slit chillies and chopped coriander just before turning the heat off.
Serve with parathas or rice!
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