How to Make Chana Masala

Put a cup of dried chickpeas in a bowl, cover with a liter of water, and stir in a tablespoon of salt until it dissolves. The salt is doing real work. It softens the outer skin so the beans hold their shape instead of bursting, which is what keeps the finished curry from turning starchy and sticky. Leave them six to eight hours, or overnight.

Pour off all the soaking water and rinse the chickpeas under the tap until the water runs clear. Do not skip the draining or reuse that water. It is heavily salted and cooking in it makes the whole dish inedible. While you rinse, pick out any loose skins floating around.

Add the chickpeas to the cooker with three cups of hot water, just enough to sit a little above the beans. In go a two-inch cinnamon stick, a dried bay leaf, half a teaspoon of salt, and two plain black tea bags. The tea is what gives Punjabi chole its deep brown color and it leaves no tea flavor behind. A pinch of baking soda helps the beans drink up water and turn soft. Cook 22 minutes.

While the cooker works, get everything else ready. Two large onions finely chopped or grated, two large tomatoes pureed, and a good amount of ginger and garlic chopped fine. A small food chopper does all of this in about a minute.

In a small bowl combine chana masala, ground coriander, a little red chilli powder and a tiny pinch of ground turmeric, then loosen it with a few tablespoons of water. Making a paste rather than tipping dry powder into hot oil is what stops the spices scorching.

Let the pressure release naturally before you open the lid. Fish out the cinnamon stick, bay leaf and tea bags, and spoon off any scum on the surface. Set a strainer over a bowl and pour the chickpeas through. Keep that brown cooking liquid. It goes back in at the end and carries most of the color and body.

Heat oil in a pan over medium, add the onions and a pinch of salt, and stir from time to time. This takes about 15 minutes and there is no shortcut. Crank the heat and the onions look browned without ever going soft, which changes the texture of the whole gravy. Add a splash of water any time the pan runs dry.

Stir the spice paste into the browned onions and cook on medium low for a minute, then add the chopped ginger and garlic. Add a little more oil if it looks dry. You are frying the raw edge off the spices here, which is why the paste goes in before anything wet.

Add the pureed tomatoes and chopped green chillies and stir on medium low. Watch the edges of the pan for oil pooling away from the masala. That is the signal everything is properly fried and ready for the chickpeas. Leave the green chilli out to keep it mild.

Tip in the drained chickpeas with a small sprinkle of salt, then a little garam masala and a good handful of chopped coriander leaves. Taste before you salt, because chana masala blends often carry salt already. Stir gently so you do not crush the beans you worked to keep whole.

Add the reserved brown cooking liquid. More gives you a soupier curry, but too much thins the flavor out, so add it in stages. Bring it up to a boil, then cover and hold on low for about 8 minutes. Serve with roti, naan or rice.