Fresh Green Chickpeas Paneer Curry Recipe | Choliya Paneer Masala | Harbhara Paneer Bhaji | Hara Chana Paneer Masala

There are some seasonal ingredients that instantly bring back memories of places, people, and moments spent together as a family. Fresh green chickpeas, known as Harbhara, Hara Chana, or Choliya, are one such winter delicacy for me.

Whenever I visit Pune, my husband never misses an opportunity to buy fresh harbhara from roadside vendors. They are usually sold in bunches, and one has to patiently split open each pod to remove the tender green chickpeas hidden inside.

I would often see people casually walking along the roads, happily peeling and eating fresh harbhara almost like peanuts during the winter season. My husband absolutely loves them and would always insist that I try some too. Somehow, I never quite took to the taste initially. I suppose certain traditional seasonal foods are acquired tastes that one slowly learns to appreciate over time.

This dish is especially made for my dear husband and my little one, who constantly trouble me to prepare dishes using fresh green chickpeas whenever they are available.

Preparing fresh harbhara from scratch is quite a lengthy process. The pods need to be opened one by one, the chickpeas sorted carefully, and then washed thoroughly in a colander. To get even a decent quantity of green chickpeas, one needs several bunches of the plant. Unfortunately, fresh green chickpeas are not commonly available in Singapore. So for this recipe, I used the frozen variety available at Mustafa Centre under the Greentech brand, where it is sold as Choliya. They work beautifully and save a lot of preparation time.

For those who cannot find the frozen variety, dried green chana is available throughout the year in most Indian grocery stores. If using dried green chana, soak them overnight and pressure cook them for about 3 whistles before proceeding with the recipe.

Since I personally was never overly fond of the earthy taste of green chickpeas, I decided to flavour the curry generously with aromatic spices and added soft crumbled paneer to make it richer and more comforting.

To my surprise, the dish turned out so delicious that I completely changed my opinion about green chickpeas. The combination of spices, paneer, and the tender choliya created a hearty, wholesome curry that I now truly enjoy making and relishing again and again.

This protein-rich North Indian style curry pairs beautifully with hot phulkas, rotis, parathas, or even simple steamed rice. 

Fresh green sorted whole chickpeas-Image courtesy Wikipedia

Now for many like me who didn’t know what’s hara chana, they are whole green chick peas packed with a lot of nutritional value. Typically, these are available only a few weeks a year.

Fresh green whole chickpeas-Image courtesy Wikipedia

Ingredients

1 ½ cups hare chane (whole green chickpeas)

Spinach (Palak leaves) - 4-5 for color

Onion - 1 Big

Tomatoes – 2 red and ripe ones

Green chillies – 2

Ginger – ½ inch

Cumin seeds – 1 tsp

Badi elaichi – 1

Cinnamon stick – 1

Star Anise – 1 tsp

Kasuri Methi powder – 1 tsp

Coriander powder – 1 tsp

Cumin powder – 1 tsp

Garam Masala – 1 tsp

Chole Masala – 1 tsp

Chaat Masala – 1 tsp

Asafetida – a pinch

Paneer (Cottage Cheese) crumbled 3-4 heaped tablespoons

Salt as per taste

Oil – 2 tbsps

Fresh Green Coriander leaves for garnish

A close up of the dish

Method

Finely Chop the onion and tomatoes. Make a coarse paste of the ginger and green chillies in a blender. Soak the frozen paneer in some warm water. After a while crumble and keep it aside. 

Blend the spinach leaves with some water and keep aside.

Rinse the frozen choliya (whole green chick peas), drain and keep aside. For those who are using the fresh green chickpeas or the dried ones kindly read above the ingredients list, the method to cook it.

Heat oil in a wok (kadhai), add the cumin seeds, badi elaichi, cinnamon stick & star anise.

Once the cumin is fried, Add in the coarsely grounded ginger and chilly paste and fry, after a minute add the finely chopped onions and sauté, once the onions are transparent, add the finely chopped tomatoes and sauté until it is totally squashy and fried. 

Add in the Kasuri Methi powder, Coriander powder, Cumin powder, Garam Masala, Chole Masala and Chaat Masala, asafetida and salt and fry for a minute. The masala should get fried well, At this point add in the blended spinach leaves paste, sauté until the oil comes out of the puree. 

Now add the whole green chickpea without any water and mix well with all the masala. 

If you are not using spinach for color, you can add in 1-2 drops of green color just for the color (this is optional)

Cover and cook in a low flame. Let the green chana cook in its own juices. 

When you see the water is getting dried. 

Add in 2 teacups of water and let it cook on a slow flame. 

Keep adding water everytime you see that the chana is dry until you can see that the chickpeas are cooked. 

Once the chickpeas are cooked and can be mashed easily with the back of the spatula, add the crumbled paneer, cook covered for a while. 

While cooking, keep mashing a few chickpeas with the back of the spatula for a mushy thick gravy. 

Cook for about 10-15 minutes on a slow flame. 

Ensure that the mix has gravy by adding water and letting the mix boil. 

When you see that it is an even mix and has enough gravy to your heart’s desire. Put off the flame. 

Garnish with finely chopped fresh green coriander leaves and serve hot with fulkas or rice.

Variations

• You can add garlic to this recipe. 
• You can skip the onions as well for a no onion - no garlic recipe (Jain) 
• Blanch the spinach for a greener colour.
• You can add in 1-2 drops of green color just for the color (this is optional)
• Vegans can avoid Paneer, Milk etc in the recipe.

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