Chamba madra
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Chickpeas cooked slowly in yoghurt and ghee with whole spices, a rich dish of the Chamba and Kangra dham feast.
Region: Chamba and Kangra, Himachal PradeshOccasion: Dham feasts at weddings, festivals and temple fairsTime: 1 hr + overnight soakingServes: 4Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 cup white chickpeas (kabuli chana), soaked overnight
- 1½ cups curd, whisked
- 3 tbsp ghee
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 4 cloves, 4 green cardamoms, 1 small stick cinnamon, 2 bay leaves
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- A pinch of hing
- 2 tbsp raisins (optional)
- Salt to taste
Method
- Boil or pressure-cook the soaked chickpeas until soft but whole. Drain, keeping a little of the water.
- Heat the ghee in a heavy pan. Add cumin, hing and the whole spices and let them crackle.
- Add turmeric and coriander powder, then the chickpeas, and stir for 3–4 minutes.
- Take the pan off the heat and stir in the whisked curd so that it does not split.
- Return to low heat and cook, stirring often, for 15–20 minutes until the gravy is thick and the ghee rises to the top. Add raisins and salt.
- Serve hot with rice as part of the dham.
History
Madra is one of the core dishes of the dham, the traditional feast of Himachal Pradesh, which is cooked by hereditary cooks called botis.
Significance
At a dham the guests sit in rows on the floor and eat from leaf plates (pattals), and madra is served after the dals as one of the richest courses.