A delicious no-onion, no-garlic, and no-tomato chole recipe popularly known as Pindi chole made in Instant Pot!
Check out how I made this Pindi chole with detailed step-wise pictures and video.
Of all the beans, I love chickpeas or garbanzo beans, and you can find many recipes with the same on my blog. Earlier this week, I posted a south Indian kuzhambu recipe with chickpeas, and now I am back with another rustic and flavorful recipe with chickpeas – Pindi chana or Pindi chole.
Jump to:
Why is it called Pindi chole?
Ok, what I learned and understood was that this recipe got its name from the town Rawalpindi, Punjab province, Pakistan, where it originated. It’s a popular dish from the Punjabi cuisine, and it’s a known street-food as well. I found few other names like Punjabi Pindi chole, Amritsari Pindi chole too. Call it however you prefer, but do give it a try, and I am sure you will love this.
How is this different from other chole recipes?
This Pindi chole is a dry curry, unlike the other versions. The brownish color of the chole and rustic tangy flavor make this chole unique. Thanks to all the spices and loose leaf tea that we add. While some say dried pomegranate powder(anardana powder) yields that color without tea bags, I did add 1 tsp of loose black tea for this recipe.
The tanginess comes from the dried pomegranate powder. Along with that, I added a small amount of amchur(dried mango powder) and black salt for an added kick.
Also, I did not include any onion, tomatoes, and garlic. (Refer notes)There isn’t much chopping involved except for chopping green chilies and ginger. As there aren’t any onion and garlic, you can also make this on the festival and other auspicious days.
Other chole recipes.
You can check my chole with homemade chole masala in samosa chole post, and also I have another Instant Pot chole recipe with tomatoes but without any onion and garlic.
Different ways to serve Pindi chole.
Well, indeed, Pindi chole goes well with kulcha and bhatura and poori. But it goes very well with rice. Just mix it with hot rice with a dollop of ghee, folks; you are in food heaven for sure. I am not exaggerating, but Pindi chole with rice is absolutely delicious.
You can also use it to make a chana sandwich or use it for samosa chole chaat or fill it in a warm tortilla and make some chana taco. The sky is the limit, and you can serve it zillion ways.
Dietary specifications
This Pindi chana or chole is a vegan and nut-free recipe. I have used asafoetida. I always use asafoetida, especially when making bean and lentil dishes, as it aids in digestion. You can use a gluten-free version or skip it and use little ajwain or carom seeds. Ajwain seeds do add their flavor so add cautiously.
You can use ghee instead of oil if you are not particular about vegan. I do make this curry with oil, but I add ghee as required when serving with rice.
Watch me make Pindi chole.
Here is the Pindi chole video. For more videos, check out my YouTube channel, and don’t forget to subscribe.
How to make Pindi chole in Instant Pot
Prepare the potli.
- In a small cloth pouch or a cheesecloth, add the cinnamon stick, black tea, cardamom, cloves, star anise, and bay leaf. If you are using a cheesecloth, bring all the ends together and tie a knot. If you are using a pouch, tie a knot on the top, as shown in the video.
Cook the chickpeas
- Add the soaked and drained chickpeas into the inner pot of the Instant Pot. Place the prepared spice pouch or the potli. And add 3 cups of water.
- Now close the Instant Pot. Make sure the sealing ring is in place and set the vent to the sealing position. Press the bean/chili mode and cook the beans. Alternatively, you can pressure cook for 30 minutes at high-pressure manual mode and release the pressure naturally. When the pressure is all released, carefully open the lid and remove the potli or the spice pouch and discard the water. Set the chickpeas aside. Rinse the inner lid and pat it dry.
Prepare the Pindi chole.
- Now set the Instant Pot in saute mode, and when it is hot, add ½ tbsp of oil. After 30 seconds, add cumin seeds, ginger, green chili, asafoetida and saute for 30 to 45 seconds.
- Add the cooked chickpeas and ½ cup of water followed by all the spices – salt, black salt, turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, anardana powder, amchur powder.
- Mix this all together and mash few chickpeas as your mix. Let the chole cook along with spices for 4 to 5 minutes.
- Note about water: In between, add ¼ to ½ cup of water so that the chole doesn’t stick to the bottom. This chole is semi-dry, so add water cautiously. But if you prefer a gravy chole, then add little extra water. Now add the chopped cilantro and 2 tsp of crushed dried fenugreek leaves and mix well. Turn off the heat and serve the chole warm with roti or rice.
Recipe Notes
- This is a no onion, no garlic, and no tomato Pindi chole. But you can try it with onion and garlic. But as we are adding anardana and amchur powder, I would recommend skipping tomatoes.
- This chole recipe is all about spices, and the spice measure works well for us. But you can adjust it according to your preference. You can reduce the number of green chilies or red chili powder.
- Black salt adds a nice kick to this recipe. If you can’t source it, skip the black salt.
- Anardana powder is the crucial ingredient that gives the dark color as well as the rustic flavor. It is readily available in Indian groceries, but substitute it with amchur powder if you can’t source it.
- If you are planning to use the chole for chaat, you can sprinkle ½ tsp of chaat masala or jal jeera masala towards the end.
More Chickpeas Recipe
P.S.: If you try this Pindi chole, please don’t forget to comment and rate this recipe. If you have any questions, please leave a comment, and I will get to it A.S.A.P. Make sure to follow me on my Pinterest for more healthy and delicious ideas! Follow me on Instagram or join my Facebook Group for more gardening and recipe updates! You can also sign-up for my newsletter for weekly updates.
📖 Recipe
Pindi Chole | Instant Pot Pindi Chole | Pindi Chana
Equipment
- Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
Measurement Details: 1 cup=240ml; 1 tbsp=15ml; 1tsp=5ml;
For the potli / spice pouch or bag
- 1.5 inch cinnamon stick you can add upto 2 -inch stick
- 1 tsp black tea
- 3 cardamom
- 3 cloves
- 1 star anise
- 1 bay leaf
Other ingredients
- 1 cup chickpeas soaked overnight
- 3 cups water
- ½ tbsp oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 4 to 5 grams ginger thinly sliced
- 3 green chilies slit
- ⅛ tsp asafoetida
- 1 cup water divided
- 1.5 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black salt
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1.5 tsp anardana powder / dried pomegranate powder
- ½ tsp amchur powder / dried mango powder
- 2 tbsp cilantro finely chopped
- 2 tsp dried fenugreek leaves
Instructions
Prepare the potli.
- In a small cloth pouch or a cheesecloth, add the cinnamon stick, black tea, cardamom, cloves, star anise, and bay leaf. If you are using a cheesecloth, bring all the ends together and tie a knot. If you are using a pouch, tie a knot on the top, as shown in the video.
Cook the chickpeas
- Add the soaked and drained chickpeas into the inner pot of the Instant Pot. Place the prepared spice pouch or the potli. And add 3 cups of water.
- Now close the Instant Pot. Make sure the sealing ring is in place and set the vent to the sealing position. Press the bean/chili mode and cook the beans. Alternatively, you can pressure cook for 30 minutes at high-pressure manual mode and release the pressure naturally. When the pressure is all released, carefully open the lid and remove the potli or the spice pouch and discard the water. Set the chickpeas aside. Rinse the inner lid and pat it dry.
Prepare the Pindi chole.
- Now set the Instant Pot in saute mode, and when it is hot, add ½ tbsp of oil. After 30 seconds, add cumin seeds, ginger, green chili, asafoetida and saute for 30 to 45 seconds.
- Add the cooked chickpeas and ½ cup of water followed by all the spices – salt, black salt, turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, anardana powder, amchur powder.
- Mix this all together and mash few chickpeas as your mix. Let the chole cook along with spices for 4 to 5 minutes.
- Note about water: In between, add ¼ to ½ cup of water so that the chole doesn’t stick to the bottom. This chole is semi-dry, so add water cautiously. But if you prefer a gravy chole, then add little extra water. Now add the chopped cilantro and 2 tsp of crushed dried fenugreek leaves and mix well. Turn off the heat and serve the chole warm with roti or rice.
Video
Notes
- This is a no onion, no garlic, and no tomato Pindi chole. But you can try it with onion and garlic. But as we are adding anardana and amchur powder, I would recommend skipping tomatoes.
- This chole recipe is all about spices, and the spice measure works well for us. But you can adjust it according to your preference. You can reduce the number of green chilies or red chili powder.
- Black salt adds a nice kick to this recipe. If you can’t source it, skip the black salt.
- Anardana powder is the crucial ingredient that gives the dark color as well as the rustic flavor. It is readily available in Indian groceries, but substitute it with amchur powder if you can’t source it.
- If you are planning to use the chole for chaat, you can sprinkle ½ tsp of chaat masala or jal jeera masala towards the end.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.
Thank you for the recipe. I want to leave a comment. I may be wrong though. It is possible that the word “pindi” in your pindi chole refers to your process where you mash some of the cooked chickpeas which results in “pindi” which in Telugu language means dry powder or wet dough of any thing. You may ask how a Telugu language word can possibly describe a Punjabi dish. In Sanskrit also “pindi” refers to a ball of food. It is also possible that the name Rawalpindi is a vestige of a place once lived by Dravidian Telugu people. According to linguistic atlas, Dravidians such as Telugus lived in Punjab region millennia ago. Anyway, I am very happy you shared your recipe here.