South Indian Style Chickpea Curry

Ingredients

1. Chickpeas(Dried, soaked overnight) - 11/4 - 11/2 cups

2. Red onion, chopped - 1 medium

3. Tomato, diced - 1 large or 2 small (Make sure to use ripe tomatoes)

4. Red chilly powder - 1.5 tspn

5. Turmeric powder - 1tsp

6. Coriander powder - 1.5tspn

7. Salt - To taste

8. Shredded coconut - 4 tblspn

9. Cloves - 2

10. Cardamom - 1

11. Cinnamon stick - 1/2 inch piece

12. Fennel seeds - 1 tspn

13. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tspn

14. Garlic - 2 cloves

15. Ginger - 1/2 tspn

16. Green chilly - 2 (Adjust to taste)

17. Cashew nuts - 5-8 nos

18. Yogurt - 1.5 tspn

19. Oil - 2-3 tspn

20. Curry leaves/ cilantro (Or both) - 2 sprigs each

Method

1. Add the soaked and cleaned chickpea to a pressure cooker. Add enough water to completely submerge it. Also add 1/2 tspn each of chilly powder, turmeric powder and 1/4 of salt. Cover and cook to desired doneness. Set aside.

2. Heat a pan/ Dutch oven over medium heat. Add oil.

3. Once the oil is hot, add in the chopped onion. Sautee until the onion are translucent and develops a light brown color.

4. Add in the chopped tomatoes. Continue to cook for an additional 3-4 minutes or until the tomatoes turn mushy and are cooked through.

5. Add the rest of the spice powders(chilly powder, turmeric powder and coriander powder).

6. Cook the spices for 2-3 minutes. Also, adjust salt to taste.

7. In the meanwhile, prepare a paste with shredded coconut, ginger, garlic, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, green chilly, cashew and yogurt. Add a bit of water if needed.

8. Add the prepared paste to the onion-tomato mix and cook for a couple minutes.

9. Add in the cooked chickpeas, along with the cooking liquid.

10. Taste and adjust seasoning. Add half of the curry leaves and/or cilantro(Chopped).

11. Bring the curry to a boil, add extra water if desired and cook for 10 minutes on medium flame.

12. Turn off the heat and let sit for at least 30min.

13. Add more curry leaves and/or cilantro to garnish. Serve with Roti or any bread of choice.