As usual I love my one pot dishes for Sunday cooking - something that is easy to cook and tastes good too. Wanted to try something different today and came up with this recipe. Its my own creation and the combination of spices and vegetables my own too. Needless to say, yummy it was ;) - total comfort food for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Method

1. Soak 1 cup of chickpeas overnight and pressure cook it in the morning for 3-4 whistles.
2. Wash and soak 1 cup of Basmati rice in water for at least 10 minutes.
3. Make a powder of 1 tsp aniseed, 3-4 cloves, 2 inch of cinammon and keep aside.
4. Heat 2 tsp butter and 2 tsp ghee in a pressure cooker. When hot, add 1 tsp cumin seeds. When the start crackling add the aniseed powder mentioned above. Add grated 1 inch ginger and 3-4 pods of garlic. Add 2 finely sliced green chilies and mix well
5. While sauteing, add 2 finely sliced onions and continue sauteing. Add some salt and saute till pink in color
6. Add 2 finely chopped tomatoes and 1/2 cup of blanched spinach and cook for 2 mins. 
7. Add 1 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1 tsp garam masala powder and mix well.
8. Let it cook for 2 mins, till the raw taste of the masalas is gone.
9. Add rice and chick peas and add 3 cups of water and pressure cook for 2 whistles. After 2 whistles, let the pressure cooker cool before you open it.
10. Sprinkle some  chaat masala while serving.
11. I served this with Cucumber Mint raita, the recipe for which follows.

Cucumber Mint Raita

1. Grate 1 cucumber; place it into a sieve and drain out the excess water
2. Add 1 handful of finely chopped mint. Add 1 finely chopped spring onion(both whites and greens). Add 2 small green chillies finely chopped. 
3. Now add 1 cup curd, salt, 1/2 tsp cumin powder, 1/2 tsp chat powder and 1/2 tsp rock salt. Add normal salt while adjust for salt and mix well.
4. Refrigerate before serving

I was not a fan of hummus until we went to UK. I ate some store bought ready to eat hummus for breakfast and started developing a taste for it. Cook it often  these days as a starter or even as an evening snack. Like to eat it for breakfast too.

Here is my recipe ...

Method

1. Soak 1 cup of chickpeas overnight. Pressure cook in 3 cups of water for 3 whistles. Cool it and keep aside
2. Take 2 tsp til (sesame seeds) in a grinder. Add 4 pods of garlic, 2 tsp curd and the boiled chickpeas and grind to a coarse paste.
3. Remove from the grinder and adjust the salt, Add juice of half a lemon, 2-3 tsp olive oil 
4. Sprinkle ground red chilli flakes and serve with Pita bread.

I also like to eat it as a spread with whole wheat bread for breakfast. This also tastes as a good dip to eat with freshly cut cucumbers and carrots.

My friend Virag and his wife Kruti are strict Jains. Even though they do not use onions, ginger and garlic in their cooking, the food they cook is always amazingly tasty. 
This is a dish I ate at their place and liked it a lot especially because it was very different from the normal Chole. 
I tried this dish recently and it turned out good...Have to admit that I couldnt stop myself from using onions as I wasnt sure I could make it as tasty as Kruti's recipe. So here is the recipe...

Method

1. Soak 1 1/2 cups chickpeas overnight. Pressure cook the chickpeas the next day - this generally takes 5-6 whistles.
2. Finely chop 3 onions. Take a pan, heat 1 tbsp oil and fry the onions. Add a little salt while frying. When the onions are brown in color,  turn off the heat. Let the onions cool down and then blend them into a blender to a fine paste. Keep this aside. You can avoid onions if you want to make it the Jain way.

3. Par boil 4 tomatoes and blend them in a grinder to a fine paste

4. Take 2-3 tsp oil, 1 tsp ghee  in a pan. When the oil is hot add 2 tsp cumin seeds. As the cumin seeds splutter add 1 big bay leaf and saute. Add the onion paste and fry, add 2 tsp ginger garlic paste and fry it till the raw smell is gone.
5. Add 2 tsp red chilli powder, 1 tsp turmeric powder, 2 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1 to 2 tsp garam masala powder (acco to taste) and saute it till it mixes well with the onion paste.
6. Now add the tomato paste and  1-2 tsp tomato puree (store bought) and saute.
7. Add 1 handful each  of coriander leaves and mint leaves ground into a fine paste to the tomatoes for added taste. Saute this for 5 mins. You can add more mint if you would like a distinct mint flavor
8. Add boiled chole chana to the paste. Mix as much water as you need and let this cook on a slow flame for 15 mins.
8. Garnish with coriander leaves and Serve with pooris/rotis