Himachali Chana Madra

1. Boil the chickpeas with a little salt for 10 minutes in a pressure cooker or an instant pot. Or if you are boiling on the stove, you need to cover and cook in enough water for 1 hour. Test a chickpea if it can be mashed with fingers, and that's when it is done. Save a cup of stock aside.

2. In a large bowl, mix the yogurt, stock from boiled chickpeas, salt per taste and powdered spices and whisk until they are well combined.

3. In a pan, heat ghee and add in the whole spices. Saute the whole spices on low flame until a nice aroma is released. (You can remove the whole spices after they infuse their flavors in ghee if you don't like to bite into them)

4. Add in yogurt mixture and keep stirring on low flame to avoid curdling of yogurt. Cook for 3-4 minutes.

5. Increase the flame to medium and add the boiled and strained chickpeas. Keep stirring until they are well combined. Cook for 5-6 minutes with cover.

6. In a small bowl, combine rice flour and 1 tbsp of water to make a paste. Add the paste and salt in the gravy and mix well.

7. Garnish with chopped, fresh coriander leaves and grated paneer (optional)