The abundance of fresh veggies that winter brings with it is one of the things many like about it. In addition to a variety of winter greens, there are a wide variety of winter vegetables that can be prepared in numerous ways. Winter is a season of nutritious low-calorie veggies like broccoli, green peas, spinach, fenugreek greens, bathua leaves, mustard greens, carrots, and beets. However, there is one vegetable that gets little attention: green chickpeas. Green chickpeas, sometimes referred to as choliya or hare chaney, are a favourite among Indians and are used in both vegetarian and meat curries as well as a number of traditional dishes, such as chholia pulav. These green garbanzo beans are recognised for their high protein content. The best way to enjoy choliya's distinctively fresh flavour is as a light snack; a salad or chaat with a few other components will help you to complement and relish the flavour of the choliya.
1 bowl Choliya
1 finely chopped green chillies
Fresh green coriander, finely chopped
1 Tomato, finely chopped
1 Onion, finely chopped
2 Red Radish, thinly sliced
1 Amla, fine juliennes
Salt to taste
Aloo bhujia to garnish, around 1 tbsp
1 tsp Chaat masala
Juice of half lemon
Method:
Choliya should be blanched and placed on a dry plate after blanching.
Add the blanched choliya, finely chopped onions, tomatoes, green peppers, coriander, red radish slices, and amla to a bowl.
Add aloo bhujia and squeeze lemon juice after seasoning with salt and chaat masala. Mix well before serving.
Place it in a serving bowl after checking for salt. Add extra aloo bhujia to finish it off. Add some slit green chili as a garnish.
If you haven't tried this healthy and delicious winter vegetable, stop by your neighbourhood market to get acquainted with the small green chickpeas that are frequently offered alongside the branches that they grow on. The tiny juvenile chana, which is even good eaten raw, is harvested off the branches and then its soft, fuzzy outer coat is peeled off. They are essentially the young, fresh versions of the mature chickpeas or garbanzo beans that we eat the rest of the year.