Ingredients
Chickpeas 2 cups boiled / 1 15 oz. can chickpeas drained and rinsed OR ½ cup dried chickpeas
Potatoes ½ pound/ 225 gm diced to 1 ½”, if you use a pan, boil in 1 cup water, while you prepare the rest of the ingredients
Onion 1 cup/ 120 gm sliced/ chopped from 1 medium
Green chilies 1-2 slit
Ginger-garlic paste 1 tbsp or ½” ginger peeled and 3 garlic cloves crushed/ minced
Tomatoes ¾ cup chopped, deseeded
Mint leaves 2-3 tbsp leaves chopped
Spices
Turmeric pdr ½ tsp
Garam masala ¾ - 1 tsp as per taste
¾ to 1 tsp Kashmir red chili pdr as per taste
Bay leaf 1 or curry leaves 1 sprig
Star anise 1, mace 1 strand
Cumin/ jeera OR caraway seeds ½ tsp
Green cardamoms 3
Cloves 3
Cinnamon 3” pieces
You can choose the spices as per your taste
Preparations
If you don’t have raw coconut, you may use coconut milk. To a small grinder jar, add 1/3 cup grated raw coconut, 10 cashew nuts or 1 tbsp fried gram ( pottukadalai), 1 tsp fennel seeds and pour ½ cup water
To substitute the above ingredients, use 1/3 cup thick canned coconut milk, 1 tbsp nut butter and ¾ tsp ground fennel / saunf. Add them to a small bowl and whisk together with a fork. Grind to a smooth paste.
Heat 3 tbsp oil in a pan or instant pot ( on saute mode) and add the whole spices. When they begin to sizzle, add curry leaves and onion.
Saute until they turn golden, add ginger-garlic paste and green chili.
Saute for a minute and add tomatoes. Cook until the tomatoes break down to a mush.
Add mint leaves and saute until aromatic for 1-2 minutes.
Stir in the salt, turmeric , chili pdr and garam masala
Turn down the heat and add 1/3 cup whisked yogurt, use thick yogurt only.
Cool down for 2-3 minutes.
Mix in boiled chickpeas, potatoes and ¾ cup stock/ water/ ( Note use boiled potatoes, if using a normal pan/ pot & use raw potatoes only to cook in Instant pot.
Pour the coconut milk.
Stove top- bring to a gently boil. Cover and simmer for 6-8 minutes, until thick and aromatic. If it turns too thick, add a splash of hot water as you cook. If it is runny, mash a few potatoes.
Instant pot (IP)- pour another ½ cup water. Cover the instant pot and pressure cook for 5 minutes. The IP beeps when it is done, press cancel and wait for 2 minutes. Gently release the pressure manually. Be careful of the hot pressure.
Aloo chana is done when the chickpeas and potatoes are tender and very soft or slightly mushy. The gravy is slightly runny at this stage but turns thick after cooling. Taste and more salt/ garam masala or Kasturi methi if you desire.
Garnish aloo chana with chopped coriander leaves. Serve with plain rice, pulao/ roti/ dosa.
TIPS
If you se dried chickpeas, soak ½ cup chickpeas overnight and pressure cook with 1 cup water till al dente. Not completely soft. In the IP you cook for 13 minutes. Since it is pressure cooked again for another 5 minutes in the kurma. You’ll be left with ¾ cup water/ chana stock, use that when you cook the aloo chana.
Canned chickpeas- drain and rinse the chickpeas well. They should be tender and not to soft. Every brand is different. If in doubt don’t use IP to pressure cook them, instead cook them in a pot.
Green chilies & chili pdr- If you don’t use enough green chilies/ chili pdr, your kurma will taste sweet due to the coconut and nuts. Using a lot of chili pdr, alters the flavour of kurma.
Whole spices are an essential ingredient set in a kurma recipe, but you may omit them and use more garam masala. That alters the flavours because whole spices impart a delicate flavour to the kurma.