Kali Mirch Walay Chanay (chickpea in Black pepper Gravy) is quintessential street food from Lahore, a city known for rich food culture. Flavourful chickpea curry is popular for breakfast/brunch and served with poori or naans.

There are a lot of recipes and different version of chanay, but basics are same. The chickpeas are simmered until tender and infused with spices resulting in soft chickpea gravy that melts into your mouth.

The recipe is fairly easy to make with very few ingredients. Dried chickpeas are soaked overnight and boiled until tender. Many recipes call for adding red lentil to thicken up the gravy. I do not like to use this. Occasionally, I use mashed potato to thicken the gravy. Mostly I make a paste of some of the boiled chickpeas and use this as the thickening agent.

I don’t like using the premade chana masala. Instead I use basic spices along with dry mango powder and chaat masala.

The chickpeas are best served with naan/flat bread or poori ( deep fried flat bread). Some people like to eat it with rice too. But authentic the way is definitely with a naan and boiled eggs. I served with some leftover roasted chicken drumsticks along with the egg.