Recipe collected and written by Sakina Ghatalah, Fall 2020
“In 1912, there was once a group of people starving and walking through a forest. They eventually found this hard bean that looked like it could be food. After biting into it however, they all broke their teeth and had to go to the dentist. The dentist fixed their teeth and called them a bunch of silly billies, informing them that these beans need to be boiled. After trying that, they hated it because it was so bland but then an angel came down and told them to add it to a curry and there came about cholay, or chickpea curry.” When I asked my mom if she knew the history of cholay, chickpea curry, she first laughed at me, told me this obviously historically incorrect story, then asked me why I thought she would know such a thing.
The first time she tried cholay was at a Punjabi restaurant because chickpeas are grown in northern India and foods with chickpeas are very popular snacks in most parts of Southeast Asia now. After trying cholay, she wanted to make it herself. She started making it regularly when she realized its versatility, it could be consumed by itself, with rice, bread, or even salad. It’s also incredibly nutritious and that's something my mom is passionate about-- making foods that are good for you taste like they're bad for you.
Cholay for me is not only a delicious food, it also holds many memories. My mom works in the evenings so when I’d be coming back from school, she would be leaving for work. I used to be exhausted after school and usually stressed because my high school was very much into the whole prepare students for college thing, so I had a lot of homework on most nights. However, I mostly ignored those problems till nighttime. My main goal when I got home was to relax, even if I had to get to work, I gave myself that time. The thing that comforted and relaxed me most however was when my mom left a bowl of cholay out for me. It was on the kitchen counter and the first thing I saw when I entered my house. The bowl would be filled with the curry, and sometimes if she had time, there would even be a garnish of cilantro and onions. I knew she made it before leaving for work because she knew I'd be hungry and that made me feel so loved. When people spend time to prepare and make food, those actions hold sentiments that transcend words. It's a manifestation of love and care you have towards someone, because without that, nobody would willingly spend time doing all that work. Food can be such a beautiful thing. I hope you can enjoy the beauty of cholay today.
Ingredients:
Half onion
1 Tbsp oil
Ginger garlic paste 1 spoon or use fresh ginger and garlic
Salt 1 spoon
Turmeric ¼ spoon
Red chilli powder ¾ spoon
½ can of tomato or use two cut up tomatoes
1 can of chickpeas
Chaat masala 1 ½ spoons
Steps:
Dice up the half onion. Pour one tablespoon of oil into a pan and heat it up on high. Then when it's sizzling, place the onions in the oil, but be careful because it can be scary.
Keep it on medium heat for 5 minutes and mix to make sure it's not burning. Let it become a nice light brown.
Put in the ginger garlic paste and mix, put in the spices and mix, then put in the tomatoes and mix.
Add half a cup of water and let it just soak up all the nice flavors. Then add some lime if you'd like, if you taste it and it's really spicy add some yogurt. Add some yogurt even if it's not too spicy it makes it better.
Then after 5 minutes of letting that mixture boil on medium to low heat, add your drained chickpeas into the celebration. Let it marinate in all the different flavors that compliment each other perfectly.
After 5 minutes of everything cooking together, turn the heat off. For some extra fun, add cilantro and cup up onion and put it on top along with some chaat masala. And there it is, my moms cholay recipe. Have it with some rice, plain, or with roti/pita/tortilla/naan/whatever bread you want.