Dark, tea-stained chickpeas in a tart anardana masala, spooned beside thick bajra rotis with charred edges and a knob of melting butter.

Ingredients

From the TrooFoodz pantry

• Sprouted Bajra Flour 2 1/4 cups

Fresh

• Dried chickpeas, soaked overnight 1 1/2 cups
• Black tea bags 2
• Onions, finely chopped 2
• Tomatoes, pureed 3
• Ginger, julienned 2 tbsp
• Garlic, minced 6 cloves
• Anardana powder 1 tbsp
• Chana masala powder 1 1/2 tbsp
• Coriander powder 2 tsp
• Kashmiri chilli powder 1 1/2 tsp
• Cumin seeds 1 tsp
• Ghee 4 tbsp
• Salt 2 tsp
• Hot water 1 1/3 cups (for the dough)
• Green chillies and onion rings, to serve 1 handful

Method

1. Cook with tea

   Pressure cook the soaked chickpeas with the tea bags, salt and plenty of water for six whistles. The tannins stain them dark and add a faint bitterness that balances the sourness later.

2. Save the liquor

   Drain but keep every drop of the cooking water — it is starchy and will thicken the masala without any flour.

3. Brown onion slowly

   Fry the onion in ghee for 10 minutes until deep gold, then add the garlic and half the ginger and cook another minute.

4. Reduce and darken

   Add the tomato puree with coriander, chilli powder and chana masala, and cook down for 10 minutes until thick, glossy and separating from the fat.

5. Crush for body

   Stir in the chickpeas and a cup of the liquor, then crush a ladleful of chickpeas against the pot to thicken the gravy. Simmer 15 minutes.

6. Sour at the end

   Add the anardana powder in the last three minutes — added early, its sourness turns dull and slightly metallic.

7. Pat the bajra rotis

   Scald the Sprouted Bajra Flour with hot water, knead warm, pat 14 cm rotis and cook on a medium tawa until freckled, finishing over direct flame. Serve with the ginger juliennes and onion rings.

Why this works

Tea does two things at once: the tannins darken the chickpeas to the colour this dish is known for, and they add an astringency that keeps the anardana from reading as flat sour. Crushing part of the chickpeas releases starch, which is how the gravy thickens and clings without any thickener.

Make it your own

• Anardana powder → Amchur Sharper and cleaner; use 2 tsp.
• Black tea bags → A small piece of dried amla Similar darkening with a fruitier astringency.
• Ghee → Groundnut oil Lighter and dairy-free; brown the onion a little longer.
• Sprouted Bajra Flour → Sprouted Jowar Flour Milder roti that lets the sour masala dominate.