Hara Chana (Green Chickpeas): Storing, Hola and Chane Ka Saag

“Shell them over a newspaper and wash your hands after,” is the old instruction for hara chana, and it’s still the right start. Hara chana (green chickpeas, cholia) are fresh chickpeas picked green in winter; to store hara chana, keep pods in the fridge for 4 to 5 days, or shell, blanch and freeze them for months. This guide covers the season, shelling, roasting hola in the pod, hara chana pulao and chaat, chane ka saag from the young leaves, and who should go easy.

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Hara chana season, and what you’re actually buying

Chana is a winter crop across Punjab, Sindh and the north Indian plains, sown after the monsoon and harvested dry in spring. For a few weeks in between, the seeds inside the pods are plump, bright green and sweet. That’s hara chana.

You’ll see it three ways. Whole uprooted plants tied in bundles, with pods still attached, are for roasting as hola and for snacking; loose pods are for shelling at home; and bags of shelled green chickpeas, the most convenient and the most expensive, are the ones most likely to be a day or two old and starting to dry out, so they deserve the closest look before you pay.

Hara chana vs kala chana: same plant, different stage. Kala chana is the mature seed, dried brown and hard. Some shops also sell dried green chickpeas, a green-seeded type that’s soaked and cooked like kala chana; this guide is about the fresh ones.

How to pick fresh hara chana

1. Pods: puffy, green and firm, with a bit of fuzz. Papery, yellow or brown pods mean the seeds inside are drying out.
2. Squeeze a pod. You should feel one or two plump seeds. Flat pods are empty.
3. Shelled seeds: bright green, round, slightly shiny and firm. Skip wrinkled, pale, yellowing or wet-looking ones.
4. Smell shelled bags. Fresh smells green and sweet. Sour means they’ve started to ferment in the heat of the bag.
5. Plants for hola: choose bunches with plenty of full pods and leaves that are still green, not dried and crumbling.
6. Quantity: shelling leaves a big heap of empty pods, so buy plenty; about 1 kg of pods gives enough shelled chana for a pulao for 4.

Shelling tips (and why your fingers taste sour)

Press each pod at its seam between thumb and finger and it pops open; tip out the one or two seeds and drop the shell in a separate pile. Do it over a newspaper. Fast.

The whole plant is covered in tiny hairs that release a sour, acidic liquid, which is why the leaves taste tangy and why your fingers feel sticky and taste sour after a bowl of shelling; wash your hands with soap afterwards, and if you have small cuts or sensitive skin, the juice can sting, so a pair of thin kitchen gloves helps.

How to store hara chana, and how to freeze it

• In pods: keep them unwashed in a loose bag or basket lined with paper in the fridge. They stay good for 4 to 5 days.
• Shelled: in a closed box in the fridge for 2 to 3 days. They dry and toughen after that.
• Plants for hola: roast within a day or two. Leaves wilt and pods dry quickly out of the fridge.
• Leaves for saag: use within a day, or blanch and freeze.

Freezing hara chana for the year

1. Shell and rinse 1 kg of seeds.
2. Drop into a large pot of boiling water for 1 minute.
3. Drain into a bowl of iced or very cold water for 2 minutes. This keeps the colour bright.
4. Spread on a clean cloth and pat completely dry.
5. Freeze in a single layer on a tray for 2 hours, then tip into bags. They stay loose, so you can pour out a cupful at a time.
6. Use within about 6 months for the best colour and taste. Cook straight from frozen.

It’s the same method as for peas; our matar freezing guide has more on it.

Hola: roasting hara chana in the pod

This is the winter snack of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh villages: whole plants held over a fire until the pods blacken and the chana inside steam in their own moisture, called hola, holaa or horha depending on where you grew up. At home you can do it over a gas flame with long tongs, a handful of stalks at a time, for 1 to 3 minutes, turning until the pods char and start to split, then rub them between your palms (carefully, they’re hot) to release the soft, smoky seeds, and eat them warm with salt, chilli and a squeeze of lemon.

Open a window. Keep children back from the flame.

Hara chana recipes: pulao, chaat and sabzi

Hara chana pulao (serves 4)

1. Soak 1.5 cups basmati for 30 minutes.
2. In 3 tablespoons oil or ghee, fry 1 teaspoon zeera, 1 bay leaf, 4 cloves, 1 small stick cinnamon and 1 sliced onion until golden.
3. Add 1 cup shelled hara chana, 1 chopped green chilli and 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste. Fry 2 minutes.
4. Add the drained rice, 2.75 cups water and 1.5 teaspoons salt. Boil, then cover and cook on the lowest heat for 12 to 15 minutes.
5. Rest 5 minutes before fluffing. Serve with raita.

Hara chana chaat

Boil 1 cup shelled chana for 4 to 5 minutes, drain and cool. Toss with 1 small chopped onion, 1 tomato, green chilli, coriander, chaat masala and lemon. A handful of boiled potato cubes makes it more filling.

Hara chana aloo (chholia masala)

Make a basic onion, tomato and ginger masala, add 1.5 cups shelled chana and 1 diced potato, and simmer covered with a splash of water for 10 to 12 minutes. Fresh chana cook far faster than dried ones: they’re done when soft but still bright green.

Good combos: hara chana with rice or roti makes a complete protein pair, and with a squeeze of lemon the vitamin C helps your body take up the iron in the chana. Lemon rather than extra oil also keeps a chaat light.

Chane ka saag from the young leaves

Before the plants flower, farmers nip off the tender tops (which also makes the plant bush out and carry more pods), and those soft sour shoots are chane ka saag, cooked like sarson ka saag and eaten with makki ki roti. Because it’s sour on its own, many homes mix it half and half with sarson or palak.

1. Pick over 500 g tender chana leaves, discarding thick stems and yellow leaves.
2. Wash in at least three changes of water, lifting the leaves out each time. They grow close to the soil and hold grit.
3. Boil with 1 cup water, 4 garlic cloves, 2 green chillies and salt for 15 to 20 minutes until very soft.
4. Mash or blend coarsely, stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons makki ka atta, and cook 5 more minutes.
5. Temper with 1 tablespoon ghee, sliced garlic and a little red chilli.

For the full saag method, see our sarson ka saag guide.

Hara chana benefits and side effects

Fresh green chickpeas give protein and fibre like dried chana, but because they hold much more water, a bowl of them has fewer calories than the same bowl of cooked kala chana; they also carry some vitamin C, which the dried seed has lost. That makes them a filling, useful winter food. Not a weight-loss trick, though. A plate of hara chana pulao is still a plate of rice.

Is green chana good for diabetes? It’s a sensible choice, since the protein and fibre slow down how fast its carbohydrate reaches your blood, but it still counts as carbohydrate, so keep to about one katori and balance it against roti or rice in the same meal.

The main side effect is gas, as with any chana. Start with smaller portions, cook them rather than eating handfuls raw if you’re sensitive, and a pinch of hing or zeera in the tadka is the traditional help. See kala chana for the dried version.

Browse more seasonal produce in our Fruits and Vegetables section.

Hara chana questions, answered