Chickpea or Chana Pulao, is a one-pot meal made with cooked chickpeas, caramelized onions, a bunch of aromatics and fragrant basmati rice. This combination is flavorful yet subtle, rich and a canvas to pair with many Indian dishes. I often make it as a stand alone meal with a salsa style salad called Kachumbar and plain yogurt for a complete meal. It also is an elegant dish for a dinner party with a Raita and curry of your choice.
Ingredients
- Chickpeas (garbanzo beans): Look for quality canned chickpeas, I prefer ones in tetra packs or glass jars over canned, but they’re not always readily available.
- Garlic + Ginger: the basic aromatics for any good flavorful Indian meal.
- Onion: use any color you have handy, any color works just as well.
- Whole spices: classic pulao whole spices liven up this otherwise simple rice dish; bay leaf, black and green cardamom, whole black peppercorns, cinnamon stick, cloves, cumin seeds. It’s okay to skip a couple if you don’t have them handy.
- Ghee and Oil: I’m a big fan of ghee in rice dishes for that extra flavor and texture it brings to the table. Oil or ghee either is essential for browning onions and aromatics.
- Rice: basmati rice is always my first choice, aged, long-grained basmati works beautifully.
- Cilantro: essential for aroma and garnish.
Tips For Perfect Chickpea or Chana Pulao
- FAT: I’m a big fan of ghee in rice dishes for that extra flavor and texture it brings to the table. Oil or ghee either is essential for browning onions and aromatics. I combine a tablespoon of each.
- AROMATICS AND SEASONINGS: garlic, ginger, whole spices, and sea salt are the essential aromatics to elevate the flavors.
- CHICKPEAS (garbanzo beans): Look for quality canned chickpeas, I prefer ones in tetra packs or glass jars over canned, but they’re not always readily available. And remember to add a little extra salt as chickpeas absorb the seasonings too.
- CARAMELIZED ONIONS: browning thinly sliced onions is essential for the right color and flavor of pulao. The trick is low and slow, it’s important to be patient with them, stir frequently, and deglaze the pan with sprinklings of water to help them brown evenly.Â
- PREP THE RICE: Wash and soak rice before you start cooking so some of the starch is removed and it has time to absorb some water. This make each grain separate and the rice fluffier. Drain the rice, add it to the aromatics and stir very very gently so the rice is coated with the aromatic fat. Add the hot water and bring it to a boil. Cook the pulao on very gentle heat until most of the water has absorbed or cooked off. ( full cooking method in the instructions)
Pairings With Chana Pulao
- Always a raita : My favorite way to serve any rice dish is always with a yogurt based side. Try with Herb Raita for a fresh minty herby raita, Tadka Raita a tasty veggie raita with a nutty tempering. and if you’re not in a mood for another dish, good old plain yogurt is always good..
- Indian Salad my top 3 side salad are Indian Carrot Salad a sweet-spicy crunchy salad, the classic Kachumbar , Cucumber salad with chili peanuts.
- Curries for a hearty meal pair the chickpea pulao with my Homestyle Chicken Curry or Hariyali chicken curry and a salad. Both these curries are delicious for a more elaborate meal. For Vegetarian Curries, here’s a page with many delicious ideas.
Chickpea Pulao
Equipment
- pot with a tight fitted lid.
Ingredients
- 1¾ cups basmati rice
- 14-15 oz cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 medium-large onion, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp each ghee and oil or unsalted butter for oil I like avocado
- 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 fat inch piece ginger, minced
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 one inch cinnamon stick
- 2-3 black cardamom, whole
- 3-4 green cardamom whole
- ½ tsp whole black peppercorns
- 2-3 cloves, whole
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 3 cups hot water
- 1 hot green chili, Thai or Serrano slit, optional
- chopped cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Place the rice in a bowl and gently wash the rice until the water runs mostly clear. Soak the rice in clear water and set aside. Bring about 2¾ cups of water to boil in a separate pot. Drain and rinse the chickpeas and set aside.
- Heat oil+ ghee in a nonstick sauce pan or Dutch oven(preferably with a tight fitted lid) over medium heat. Add the sliced onion and sauté, stirring often, until golden brown about 8-10 minutes). The onions should start to caramelize with deep golden-browning, this is important to give the dish its warm color and sweet-savory umami flavor .
- Now add all the garlic, ginger, green chili pepper (if using), and whole spices and sauté for 2 minutes, until aromatic.
- Once aromatic, drain the rice+ chickpeas and add it to the pot. Stir very gently so the rice and chickpeas are coated with the spice mixture. Stir only once to prevent risk of breaking there rice grains. Taste to check on the seasoning. Add 2¾ cups of hot water to the pot and stir once to everything is mixed evenly. Once the rice starts to boil, drop the heat to a gentle simmer. Cover with a tightly fitted lid and allow to steam for 12-15 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and allow it to rest for another 10-15 minutes. (resist the temptation to peek or stir the pot, we don't want to lose any steam)
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I love all your recipes and they turn out perfectly. We have practically stopped ordering in Indian food. Thanks for sharing your recipes.
Im so honored you like my recipes.Thank you so much!