Punjabi Chole..A north Indian delight

Everyone loves chole in my house. It is a gravy preparation made with chick peas or garbanzo beans that are spiced up and best enjoyed with naan or bhature. It is a famous breakfast item but seriously can be enjoyed anytime of the day. Many people have requested for my chole recipe and I am so glad to finally pen it down. Do give it a try, I am sure you will love it. 🙂

Here is how I make it.

Ingredients:

Chole or Chick Peas – 1 cup

Dried Amla – 2 or 3 pieces

Tea Bags – 2

Onion – 1 medium, finely chopped

Tomatoes – 2 medium, finely chopped

Garlic cloves – 3, finely chopped

Ginger – 1/2 inch, finely shredded

Oil – 2 tbsp.

Chole Masala – 1 tbsp.

Coriander Powder – 1 tbsp.

Pomegranate seeds powder – 1 tsp

Dry Mango Powder – 1 tsp

Red Chilly Powder – 1tsp

Turmeric Powder – 1/4 tsp

Salt to taste

Cumin Seeds – 1 tbsp

Bay Leaf – 1 medium

Cinnamon Stick – 1/2 inch

Cloves – 2

Black pepper Corns – 3

Black whole Cardamom – 1

Water – as needed

For final tempering

Ghee or clarified butter – 1 tbsp.

Ginger juliennes – 1 tbsp.

Green chilies – 2, slit

For Garnish:

Chopped cilantro leaves

Onion – finely chopped

lemon – cut into quarters

Method:

1. Soak the chole overnight in water or for at least for 6 – 8 hours.
2. Pressure cook the chole with amla, tea bags, salt and enough water until soft. This should take about 30 minutes. The tea bags give the chole a nice black color. Just make sure to discard the amla and tea bags after pressure cooking the Chole.
3. While that is happening, lets make the masalas. Dry roast the following spices – Bay leaves, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and black pepper corns. Keep stirring until fragrant. Once done, let it cool down and grind to a fine powder. All except the bay leaf.
4. In a large pan, add the oil and let it heat up.  Add in the cumin seeds and let it crackle. Now add the ginger and garlic and let it cook for a min till lightly brown.
5. Add the chopped onions and let it cook for about 5 minutes till they are cooked through and translucent. Finally mix in the chopped tomatoes and cook till they ooze out some oil. That’s when you know its done.
6. Its time to add in all the dry spices – the powdered garam masala, chole masala, coriander powder, pomegranate seed powder, dry mango powder, red chilly powder, turmeric and salt. Remember that we have already salted the chole while pressure cooking. Add some water to make sure the dry spices do not burn. Mix well.
7. Now add the pressure cooked chole to this masala and about 1.5 cups of the water in which we had boiled the chole. Cover and let it cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
8. Once, all the flavors have blended through, take about 1/2 cup of the chole from that gravy and mash it well and add it back to the chole. This helps to thicken up the gravy as well as flavor it. Let it boil for another few minutes.
9. Finally do a taste test to make sure its per your preference.
10. For the final tempering, heat ghee in a small pan and add in the ginger juliennes and slit green chilies. Let it cook for a minute and add this to the chole gravy. Mix it well and turn off the flame. Cover it for a few minutes for the flavors to blend in.
11. Finally garnish it with chopped cilantro leaves and enjoy it with your favorite naan, bhature or puri with a side of chopped onions and lemon wedges.

So that is how I make my chole. You can also top it with some tamarind chutney and that takes it to an another level. 😀

Do give it a try and let me know. Thanks so much for reading.

See you soon.

Love,

Ritu. 🙂