Vegetable / Other: Oksana's Chole

From Shelly Carey
Chole is an Indian dish made with Chick peas. It is a different dish, but really good and full of protein, too!

Ingredients
1 lb dry chickpeas
Chicken broth (enough to cover and boil chick peas in)
2 Tablespoons oil
2-3 teaspoons mustard seeds
1-2 cumin seeds (aka coriander)
1 diced onion
3 fresh Tomatoes, chopped or 1 can chopped tomatoes, undrained))
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoon ground Coriander
1 teaspoon Turmeric (or Curry)
1 teaspoon Ginger (1-2 inches if using fresh)
1 ½ teaspoons ground Cumin
2-3 cloves garlic (or 1 ½ teaspoons minced)
1/8 teaspoon Cloves
¼ teaspoon Pepper
¼ teaspoon Nutmeg
1-2 bay leafs
Salt, to taste

Directions
Soak chickpeas overnight or bring to a boil and soak for 2 hrs. Drain and cover with fresh water. Bring to boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until done. If a lot of water is left after cooking, drain most of it.

Heat oil in a frying pan. Add mustard and cumin seeds. Cover and fry until mustard has stopped popping (like pop corn). It may smoke a little—that’s OK. Add onion and cook until softened. Add the other spices and tomatoes and cook 5-10 min longer. (If using fresh tomatoes, cook longer). Then stir this into the beans, add salt, and cook 10 min. Taste and adjust the seasonings in the meantime.

Note: All measurements are approximate—adjust amounts, skip ingredients altogether, or add your own according to taste.