Chana Pulao, Pakistani Chickpea Rice

Pakistani Chickpea Rice

Chana Pulao is a classic Pakistani rice dish. It can be the perfect backdrop to many a Pakistani curry or even the main attraction in it’s own right. It’s another great cost-effective vegetarian basmati rice dish that only needs a few ingredients, and the spices are already likely to be in your spice cupboard at home.

The children love this Pakistani chickpea rice dish, my son in particular is obsessed with it and wolfs it down. He loves the nutty flavour of the chickpeas with the soft brown coloured rice. I have to say, it also my favourite vegetable pulao too. We will often eat rice with a yoghurt raita and salad. I also make chana pulao with a shorba, for example my chicken ka salan or lamb curry. You really can not go wrong!

You can use a stainless steel tea infuser ball to hold all the spices for this dish if you prefer not to have to sift them out of the rice. Personally I quite like seeing the whole spices in the rice. It adds a bit more colour and texture to the dish. However it’s easier for the kids to eat the rice if I use the stainless steel strainer.

History of this Vegetarian Basmati Rice Dish

Chana Pulao is a staple in Pakistani home-cooking, often enjoyed during casual meals or as a comforting side dish. Its simplicity, with chickpeas and basmati rice, highlights the traditional use of legumes and spices in everyday cooking. The dish offers a vegetarian alternative to meat-based pilafs, reflecting the rich agricultural heritage of the region. It’s also commonly served during festivals or gatherings, symbolizing warmth and hospitality in Pakistani cuisine. Other traditional vegetarian basmati rice dishes include matar pilau.

Ingredient Tips for this Chana Pulao Recipe

Rice

I always use basmati rice when making any pulao dish, this chana pulao is no different. Basmati rice is an essential in Pakistani cooking, the grains are slender and long and it has a beautiful aroma. In fact, the word “basmati” originates from the Hindi language and means “fragrant”. I love how the grains stand end on end (when cooked correctly), it adds to the visual enticement of this dish.

Onions

The onions are used to assist in flavouring the vegetarian basmati rice dish and adding to the brown colour of the pulao. The darker you brown the onions, the darks the rice becomes. With a vegetarian pulao, I tend not to brown the onions as much as I would for a chicken pulao or lamb pulao. Vegetarian pulao’s do no need the same level of colour as meat based pulao. This is another plus to this rice dish, less time browning onions, means it’s quicker to make! You can use white or red onions, whatever you prefer. I have used white onions in my images below.

Chickpeas

I used tinned chickpeas for convenience. It just means less preparation is needed, you literally just drain the water from the tins, and add into the pan. If you wanted to make this dish using dried chickpeas, you will need to speak the same amount of chickpeas in water overnight. Then you will need to cook them in water until soft, this will take around an hour.

Green Chillies

As I’ve said in the recipe below, the green chillies are optional. A couple of green chillies won’t add an overwhelming amount of heat to the dish, so you can add more if you want more of a quick. Alternatively, you do not have to add at all, there’s plenty of flavour in the rice without them.

Star Anise

This lovely little star shaped spice adds a slightly sweet, liquorice flavour to the rice. You could always substitute this for a cinnamon stick if you prefer more of a sweet woody flavour to the chana pulao.

Bay Leaves

I have used fresh bay leaves in the rice. My brother in law kindly pulls off leaves from his bay leaf trees when I visit. I give them a wash and dry them, then store them in a freezer bag in my freezer. They keep really well. It does add a better flavour than dried bay leaves, but if you can not get hold of fresh bay leaves, dried will work fine too.

Steaming the rice

The steaming of the rice is crucial for any pulao, do not miss out this step. I prefer using the oven, as I do not need to worry about it and it frees up the hob whilst I cook other dishes. If you do not want to put it in the oven, you can put it on low heat on the hob. Take the pan lid off and cover them with a thin tea towel and cover then pan with the lid again. Leave it on the hob for 30 minutes. I have also done the “dham”, steaming with my chapati pan under the rice pan. Just to make sure the rice at the bottom does not burn/brown.

How to serve Pakistani Chickpea Rice

I always like to serve a pulao rice dish with a yoghurt based condiment. This chana pulao recipe is no different, I would serve it with boondi raita and kachumber.

See my video on Youtube for how to make this rice!

Ingredients for Chana Pulao

• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 onions sliced
• 1750ml water (5 mugs)
• 800 grams basmati rice (3 mugs)
• 2 tins of chickpeas (400 grams drained weight)
• 1 teaspoon of garlic, finely chopped ( I use a mini food processor for ease)
• 1 teaspoon of ginger, finely chopped ( I use a mini food processor for ease)
• 2 green chillies sliced down the middle (optional)

Spices for Chana Pulao

• 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 star anise
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
• 5 cloves
• 5 black peppercorns
• 3 green cardamom pods
• 2 black pepper cardamom pods

Instructions

1. Firstly wash the rice thoroughly until the water runs clear and leave to soak in cold water. Soak for at least 30 minutes. The longer you leave the rice to soak, the quicker it will cook. Turn the oven on at 100C, fan assisted. 
2. Heat the oil in the pan, turn the heat to low and add all the spices except the salt and fry for around 30 seconds, or until you can heat the sizzle of the cumin seeds.

3. Then turn the heat to medium add the onions and lightly brown. The onions should be soft. Then add in the garlic and ginger and stir for 30 seconds.

4. Next add in the chickpeas, salt and green chillies and stir through.

5. Then add the drained rice, water and cover with the pan lid. Once the water has started to boil, turn the heat to low and let the rice cook until the water has nearly all evaporated. Keep checking the how the rice is cooking, once the water had nearly dried out put the pan in the oven for “dham”/ steaming for 30 minutes. You can alternatively do the steaming on the hob, turn the heat to the lowest setting and cover the pan with a thin tea towel and then put the pan lid on top.