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Cholley

A chickpea curry made with soaked chickpeas, spices, onions, garlic, tomatoes, and garam masala.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Cumin and nigella seed share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 28 recipes mention both. Both carry 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, which smells sweet, anise. The science ↓

The recipe

Ingredients

Contains: wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Also mentioned in the method: bread

Directions

Prepare the chickpeas

  1. Wash the chickpeas.

  2. Soak the chickpeas overnight in water, ensuring they are well-immersed with at least a few inches of water above them.

  3. Drain the soaked chickpeas.

  4. Place the chickpeas in a pressure cooker or large cooking pot.

  5. Add 500 ml fresh water and salt to taste.

  6. Cook until the chickpeas are tender (10 minutes at 15 psi in a pressure cooker; if using a regular pot, boil the chickpeas, then reduce to a simmer for 60–90 minutes).

Make the curry

  1. Heat the oil in a thick-bottomed pan.

  2. Add the coriander seeds, cumin seeds, and nigella seeds, cooking them briefly until they crackle.

  3. Quickly add the sliced onions and minced garlic.

  4. Reduce the heat to medium and sauté until the onions are transparent.

  5. Add the garam masala, chopped tomatoes, turmeric, and salt.

  6. Cook for 1 minute.

  7. Add the boiled chickpeas.

  8. Reduce the heat and simmer the cholley for around 15 minutes, checking that the gravy has thickened before removing from the heat.

Serve

  1. Place the cholley in a serving bowl.

  2. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

  3. Serve with rice or bread.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Cumin + nigella seedtop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together28 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).

  2. Cumin + turmerictop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,698 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Coriander + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together3,866 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Chickpea + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together473 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  5. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together29,030 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Chickpeas
Form the main body of the dish, becoming tender through soaking and cooking.
Onion
Sweetens and builds the base of the gravy as it softens and browns.
Tomatoes
Add acidity and moisture that help form the thickened gravy.
Garam masala
Contributes warm aromatic spice notes to the finished curry.
Oil
Carries the spices' flavor and helps them bloom when heated.

The step that matters

Simmering until the gravy thickens. Removing the curry too early leaves a thin, watery sauce. Gentle simmering lets tomato and onion moisture evaporate and concentrate, so the gravy clings to the chickpeas.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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