🫘 Pindi chole

Name: Pindi chole
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Punjab · Rawalpindi
Ingredients: 2 × 400 g cans chickpeas, drained (or 250 g dried, soaked and boiled); 1 tbsp loose black tea in a muslin bag; 2 onions, finely chopped; 2 tomatoes, chopped; 2 tsp anardana (dried pomegranate seeds), ground; 2 tsp garam masala, 1 tsp cumin seeds; 3 tbsp oil, salt, green chillies

Origin: Punjab · Rawalpindi

312kcal

per serving · 250 g

125kcal

per 100 g

15 gProtein6 g / 100 g

10 gFat4 g / 100 g

40 gCarbs16 g / 100 g

Pindi chole is a Punjabi chickpea curry cooked dark and dry-ish rather than saucy. Chickpeas are simmered with tea leaves for colour, then cooked with onion, tomato, garam masala and dried pomegranate seeds (anardana), which give a deep, tangy, earthy flavour. It is served with bhature, kulcha or rice, topped with raw onion and green chilli.

Diets

✓

Vegetarianno meat or fish in a typical recipe

✓

Veganno meat, fish or animal products in a typical recipe

✓

No pork

✓

Gluten-freeno wheat, barley or rye in a typical recipe

✓

Dairy-freeno milk, cheese, butter or yogurt in a typical recipe

Not keto16 g carbs per 100 g

Allergens

None of the 14 major allergens in a typical recipe.

What it is made of

chickpeasoniontomatotea leavespomegranategaram masala

Recipe

4 servings60 min

Ingredients

2 × 400 g cans chickpeas, drained (or 250 g dried, soaked and boiled)
1 tbsp loose black tea in a muslin bag
2 onions, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 tsp anardana (dried pomegranate seeds), ground
2 tsp garam masala, 1 tsp cumin seeds
3 tbsp oil, salt, green chillies

Method

Simmer the chickpeas with the tea bag in 500 ml water for 15 minutes, then remove the tea.
Fry the cumin and onion in oil until deep brown.
Add the tomatoes, anardana and garam masala and cook until the oil separates.
Add the chickpeas with a little of their dark liquid and simmer for 15 minutes, mashing a few to thicken.
Season and serve topped with chopped onion and green chilli.

How to make it lighter

Cut the oil to 1 tbsp — 1 tbsp oil ≈ 120 kcal.
Eat it with rice or a plain roti instead of deep-fried bhature.
Add a side of cucumber and onion salad to bulk up the plate.

History

The dish is named after Rawalpindi, in today's Pakistani Punjab. Cooks from the region are generally credited with bringing the style to Delhi and northern India after the 1947 Partition, where it became a staple of Punjabi restaurants and street stalls.

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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →