Himachali Chana Madra

A Himachali chickpea curry in a slowly simmered yogurt gravy, scented with cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and fennel.

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Madra is a yogurt-based preparation associated with Himachal Pradesh and festive dham meals. This editorial version follows the defining home-cooking technique: dried chickpeas are soaked and pressure-cooked until tender, then folded into a full-fat yogurt gravy stabilized with rice flour and kept moving until it reaches a gentle simmer. It contains no onion, garlic or tomato. The overnight soak is included in prep time; rice or flatbread for serving is not included. This recipe has not been kitchen-tested by Kitchen Handi.

Ingredients

• 250 g dried white chickpeas, picked over and rinsed
• 1.6 litres water, divided between soaking and pressure-cooking; reserve 250 ml cooking liquid (divided; reserve 250 ml chickpea cooking liquid)
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 500 g full-fat plain yogurt, brought to room temperature and whisked smooth (room temperature; whisked smooth)
• 15 g rice flour (about 1 1/2 tablespoons)
• 3 tablespoons ghee
• 1/4 teaspoon asafoetida
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 4 whole cloves
• 6 black peppercorns
• 3 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed
• 1 black cardamom pod, lightly cracked
• 5 cm cinnamon stick
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon Kashmiri chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, coarsely crushed
• 1 teaspoon fine salt, plus more only if needed
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala

Step-by-step method

1. Put the chickpeas in a large bowl, cover with 1 litre of the water and soak for 8 hours or overnight.
2. Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Pressure-cook them with the remaining 600 ml water and 1/2 teaspoon salt on high pressure for 20 minutes, then allow a 15-minute natural release. Vent any remaining pressure carefully. The chickpeas should crush easily between two fingers. Drain, reserving at least 250 ml of the cooking liquid.
3. Whisk the room-temperature yogurt and rice flour until completely smooth, then whisk in 100 ml of the reserved chickpea cooking liquid.
4. Heat the ghee in a heavy saucepan over low-medium heat. Add the asafoetida, bay leaf, cumin, cloves, peppercorns, both cardamoms and cinnamon. Stir for 45 seconds, until fragrant but not dark.
5. Lower the heat. Stir in the ground coriander, turmeric and optional chilli powder for about 10 seconds, taking care not to scorch the spices.
6. Pour in the yogurt mixture gradually while whisking continuously. Keep stirring over low-medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until it reaches its first gentle simmer; do not leave it unattended before it simmers, because steady stirring helps prevent splitting.
7. Add the cooked chickpeas, crushed fennel and 1 teaspoon salt. Add 100 ml reserved cooking liquid, or a little more for a looser gravy. Simmer gently, uncovered, for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring often so the yogurt does not catch.
8. Stir in the garam masala. Taste and add salt only if needed. Simmer for 3 to 5 minutes more; the gravy will thicken slightly as it rests.
9. Rest for 5 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and larger whole spices if preferred, then serve hot with separately prepared rice or flatbread.