Chole (Chickpea Curry)
By Petrina Verma Sarkar, indianfood.about.com

Serve this crowd pleasing chickpea curry piping hot and accompanied by pooris or bhatooras (fried Indian breads). Another recipe suggests: Top this spicy, fragrant dish with cooling yogurt and a drizzle of sweet-tart pomegranate molasses, then spoon it over steamed rice or scoop it up with naan.

2 14 oz. cans of chickpeas (400 gm each)
2 tbsps vegetable/ canola/ sunflower cooking oil
2 bay leaves (this is Indian bay leaf - see note below*)
5-6 cloves
3-4 green cardamoms
5-6 peppercorns
3 large onions sliced
2 large tomatoes chopped
2 tbsps garlic paste
1 tbsps ginger paste
2 tsps coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsps garam masala
1" piece of ginger julliened
2 tbsps fresh coriander leaves chopped fine

Grind 2 onions, the tomatoes, ginger, garlic together into a smooth paste.

Heat the oil in a deep, thick-bottomed pan on a medium flame. Add the Indian bay leaves, cloves, cardamom and peppercorns and fry for 1/2 a minute. Add the remaining sliced onion and fry till light golden. Add the onion-tomato paste and fry till the oil begins to separate from the paste. Add the dry spices - cumin, coriander, red chilli, tumeric and garam masala powders. Fry for 5 minutes.

Drain the water in the can from the chickpeas and rinse them well under running water. Add the chickpeas to the masala. Mix well. Add salt to taste and water to make gravy (about 1 1/2 cups). Simmer and cook covered for 10 minutes.

Use a flat spoon to mash some of the chickpeas coarsely. Mix well.

Garnish with juliennes of ginger and finely chopped fresh coriander leaves. Serve piping hot with pooris or bhatooras (fried Indian breads).

*Teja Patta, the Indian Bay leaf, tastes more like cinnamon, but milder, and is indeed the leaf of the Cassia tree. The Laurel Bay leaf, common in the West, has a completely different flavour profile, and is not a good substitute for the Indian bay, even if the recipe indicates that it is. There are no similarities between the two. The best thing to do if you don’t have Teja Pata is to leave it out altogether, or add a little cassia, cinnamon or an extra clove instead.