Channa ni Daar ~ Parsi Style ChickPeas

I am going to post 'Parsi dishes' this week as part of the blogging marathon. The present day Parsis in India descend from a group of Zoroastrians who fled Greater Iran to escape religious persecution during 8th / 10th century and migrated to Gujarat and Sindh regions. Over the centuries, Parsis have integrated themselves into Indian society while simultaneously maintaining or developing their own distinct customs and traditions. The same applies to their cuisine as well and over the time, it has evolved into a delicious blend with Persian, Indian and western influences. Today's post, channa ni daar comes from 'Eat, Live and Pray', an online compilation of Parsi recipes. I guess this dish is the Parsi take on the popular Punjabi chole. The spices here are not roasted before grinding as Parsis believe that the aroma / flavors of the spices are more pronounced this way. We are a chole loving family and so obviously us, including the kids enjoyed this Parsi variation and I found this an easy preparation compared to the Punjabi version.

Ingredients: (yield 3 - 4 servings)
1 cup garbanzo beans 
2-3 tbsp oil
2 onions, thinly sliced
1/8 tsp. turmeric powder
Salt to taste
1 tbsp. roughly minced cilantro to garnish
Ingredients to grind:
4 dried red chillies
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1 tsp. coriander seeds
1" piece ginger
6 pepper corns
1/2" cinnamon piece
2-3 garlic cloves (I omitted it.)

Method:
* Wash and soak garbanzo beans in water for about 8 hours or overnight to facilitate fast cooking. Drain the soaked water and rinse the beans well. Add 2 cups of water and pressure cook for 3 whistles (or more depending upon the cooker) until they are cooked. They should be soft but still hold their shape when done.
(Canned garbanzo beans can be substituted if there is no time to start from the scratch. Skip the above steps of soaking and cooking if using canned variety and use 2 cups of beans instead of one. Remember to rinse the beans well before using to get rid of the slimy liquid.)
* Heat oil and fry the onion slices until they brown. Reserve a quarter of fried onion slices for garnishing.
* In the meanwhile, grind all the ingredients mentioned under to grind. Add the ground paste and turmeric to the (3/4th quantity) fried onions in the pan. Fry for about 5 minutes.
* Then add the cooked chana and salt. Simmer for about 5 minutes or until a little gravy is left. Turn off the stove.
* Garnish with the reserved fried onion and cilantro.
* Serve warm with rotis.

This is my post under 'Parsi dishes'. Check the blogging marathon page to see what my fellow marathoners are cooking for BM#52.

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