Momo's East Indian Chole Recipe

Ingredients...

	2 cups of water
	2 cans of chic peas (garbonzo beans) drained and rinsed
	1/4 cup oil (I use vegetable or canola)
	1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
	smidgen of Hing (asafoetida powder)
	1/4 teaspoon cumin
	1/2 teaspoon tumeric
	1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
	1 teaspoon Methi (fenugreek)
	2 teaspoon channa masala
	1 tablespoon crushed garlic
	1/2 teaspoon corriander
	salt to taste
	1/2 tsp hot mirchi (extra hot ground chilli pepper - this stuff can be dangerous)

Optional
	cilantro
	tomatoes
	red onion
	roti or paratha

Destructions...

1. Add the oil to a medium sized sauce pan
2. Add the garlic to the oil and set the heat to medium.

Note:  I always add my garlic to the oil while it is cool.  Adding it to hot oil causes it to burn and splatter.

3. Heat the garlic until tiny bubbles begin to form around the chunks.
4. The oil should be hot now, so add the cumin seeds and let them crackle a bit.
5. Add the rest of the dry spices to the hot oil.
6. Fry the spices carefuly.  Add a bit of water (1 or 2 TBsp) if necessary to prevent the garlic and spices from burning.  I usually stir this around for about a minute.
7. Add your drained and rinsed chic peas and fry for a couple of minutes while constantly stirring.
8. Add the rest of the water and simmer on low for 30 minutes.
9. After 30 minutes, use a potato masher and smash approximately 1/4 of the chic peas into a fine mash.  This releases starches and will thicken your "gravy", as my Indian friend calls it.
10. Let that simmer for another 10 minutes or so.

That's it... enjoy with a topping of plain yogurt, fresh cillantro, chopped red onion, and diced tomato.  This can be eaten by itself, with rice, or, as I like to do, with fried roti or paratha.