Punjabi-Chole-Chickpeas-Curry-Recipe

We have been writing about all the famous cuisines across India and chole-bhature is one among the most relished dish from Punjab and is popular where ever the Panjabi’s have resided whether in India or overseas like UK, Canada etc.

This dish looks complicated but is simple to make and will for sure take your taste buds to a roller coaster ride. This is “The spicier the better “dish so if you are fond of spicy food than just by the smell of it your mouth will start watering. Oops mine has already started!!

So, let us hurry up and make the finger licking Chole.

Ingredients to be used to make Chole/ Chickpeas Curry:

Ingredients	Quantity
Chickpeas /Garbanzo beans (Kabuli chana/chola)	1 Cup (soaked overnight)
Tea Bags	2 bag
Oil	2 and 1/2 table spoon
Cumin Seeds/Jeera	1/2 tea spoon
Bay Leaf	1 big
Fennel Seeds (saunf)	1 tea spoon
Red Chillies	2 Dry & whole
Gram Flour(Besan)	1 tablespoon
Green Chili	1 chopped
Onion	1 (Finely chopped)
Garam Masala	1/2 tea spoon
Dry Mango Powder(Amchur)	1 tea spoon
Red Chilly Powder	1 tea spoon
Anardana Powder	1/2 tea spoon
Cumin Seeds/Jeera(Roasted & Powdered)	1 tea spoon
Coriander Powder (dhania)	1 table spoon
Black Salt	1 tea spoon
Turmeric Powder(haldi)	1 tea spoon
Black Pepper( kali mirch) Powder	1/4 tea spoon
Chola Masala	1 and 1/2 tea spoon
Salt	to taste
Lemon Juice( optional)	1 tea spoon
Cottage Cheese/Paneer ( optional)	1/4 cup cubed
Water	as needed

For Gravy:

Ingredients	Quantity
Onions	2 ( roughly chopped)
Tomatoes	3 (roughly chopped)
Ginger	1 tea spoon( chopped/paste)
Green Chili	1 big
Ginger	1 tea spoon( chopped/paste)

For Garnish:

Ingredients	Quantity
Green Chilli	2 sliced long way
Coriander Leaves	2 table spoon (chopped)
Lime	1 Sliced

Method of making Chole/Chickpeas Curry:

Precooking:

1) Take a big cooking bowl boil 5-6 cups of water with tea bags in it. 

2) Once it is boiled turn down the heat to medium and let it cook for 2-3 more minutes and then put the bowl aside remove the tea bags from it.

3) Clean and wash the chole (chickpeas) well and soak it in the tea water overnight (around 8-9 hours)

While cooking:

4) Take a pressure cooker add chole(chickpeas) along with the water they were soaked in and also add 2 more cups of water & pinch of salt and then cook it on medium heat till it starts steaming and then turn heat down and cook it for another 14-15 minutes.

5) You need to wait till the steam stops to open the cooker so in the meantime you can make the gravy for the curry

6) Take the mixer grinder jar and add chopped onion, ginger, tomato, chili, garlic, ginger

7) Grind them all to make a smooth paste 

8) Now open the pressure cooker and check as the chole (Chickpeas) should be soft.

9) Then take a saucepan and heat the oil in it. For beginner, you can test the heat by adding one-two cumin seeds in it and if the seeds crack as soon as you pour; that means the oil is ready.

10) Add cumin seeds, Bay Leaf, Fennel Seeds (saunf), Red Chillies, chopped green chili, chopped onions and sauté it 

11) Then add and stir-fry basen (gram flour) and make it light golden brown.

12) After that add the gravy and put all the other powders in specified quantity and stir of 2-3 minutes  {Garam Masala, Dry Mango Powder (Amchur), Red Chili Powder, Anardana Powder, Cumin Seeds/Jeera (Roasted & Powdered), Coriander Powder (dhania), Black Salt, Turmeric Powder(haldi), Black Pepper( kali mirch) Powder, Chola Masala}

13) Finally add chole (Chickpeas) and salt to it. You can also add panner( cottage cheese) to it if you want the dish to be more rich.

14) Then if you want add lime juice and water after which mix it well

15) Simmer it for around 35-40 minutes, the long we simmer the better the taste get as the masalas get absorbed better.

16) Keep string in between 

17) Take a serving bowl, put the chola in it and sprinkle coriander leaves 

18) Decorate it with green chili and sliced lime.

You can serve these chole with bhaturas/bhatooras (fried bread),Puris (fried wheat bread), or eat it as a snack with aloo tikki or roasted papad!