Chole is famous Indian street food and snack and the combination of chole bhuture (Indian Bread) need no description. This is a completely vegan dish and rich in protein due to its main ingredient chickpeas. Locally called as Chana masala or Chole, this dish is made in thick onion gravy and is served with Kulcha, Lachcha paratha or puri. Let's learn how to make Chana masala or Punjabi Chole recipe
Soaking Chana/ Chickpeas / Chole - .Soak the Dry Kabuli chana/ garbanzo beans overnight in 3 cups of water. The volume of soaked chickpeas would increase to 2 cups.
Boiling chickpeas: Add bay leaves, salt, cinnamon stick, black cardamom and baking soda(optional) to chickpeas. Pressure cook chickpeas with 2.5 cups of water for a 3-5 whistle or 10 minutes.
This ensures the slight natural black color to chickpeas without adding the teabags to get black color.
Roasting chana masala spice: dry roast bay leaves, black cardamom, green cardamom, clove, coriander seeds, black peppercorn, Couscous, dried pomegranate seeds (optional), carom seeds and dried red whole chilies. Roast till the aroma starts coming.
Set aside and let it cool down completely. Once it cools down, coarsely grind it in the food processor.
Prepare Chole Masala gravy: Heat vegetable oil in a wok/kadhai and add onion paste ( grind the onions separately), stir it continuously so that it starts leaving oil and turns slightly brown. it would take around 15 minutes.
Add the ginger paste, garlic paste. Grind them in food processor separately or using mortar and pestle. You can also use the store-bought ginger-garlic paste.
Once the aroma goes off, add turmeric powder, stir it once and add boiled chickpeas / channa.
Let it simmer on low flame for 5 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of freshly ground chana masala powder. Rest of the masala can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 1 month and be used next time.
Stir it and add the same water which was used for boiling the chana. Add extra water in case you want it too watery. Let it simmer for another 10 minutes
Garnish it with a tablespoon of ghee, coriander leaves and silted green chilli.
Serve hot Punjabi chole with Amritsari Kulcha, lachha paratha or Poori. You can also serve it with streamed basmati Rice.
Notes
Canned chickpeas available in the market can be used for this recipe but soaking dry Kabuli chana overnight is an economical and healthier option
Water which is used for soaking can be used for boiling too but it can be thrown away as sometimes it starts smelling and may cause gastric problems.
In case dried pomegranate seeds are not available to use store-bought Dried mango powder (Amchur Powder) or Lemon.
In case you don’t feel like making the fresh chana masala powder, check for the chana masala brands like MDH.
About the Author: This Recipe has been shared by home chef Geeta Biswas who is a simple yet experienced homemaker. She feels that just like kids grow up with their toys, in the same way, she has grown up with her recipes. Ingredients are her tools and she loves making innovative recipes which have built up her identity.