My mom makes amazing Amritsari Punjabi style Chole. The other day I was really missing her a lot and off course all the special dishes she used to make. She always prepared these special Chole on a birthday or some festival. So now that Rakhi was near, I thought I’ll prepare Chole Bhature.

This is an amazingly delicious recipe, best served with ‘bhature’.

Let’s straight away start the recipe, so that you could try them ASAP..!! 😉

Preparation Time: 20 mins    Cooking Time: 30-45 mins    Serves: 3-4

All you need:

• Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans)- 1 Cup (Soaked overnight)
  
• Tea Leaves- 2 tsp
  
• Badi Elaichi (Black Cardamom)- 1
  
• Dalchini (Cinnamon Stick)- 1 Small
  
• Laung- 2
  
• Baking Soda- ¼ tsp
  
• Salt- to taste
  
• Onion- 1 medium size
  
• Tomato- 2 medium size
  
• Green Chillies- 2
  
• Red Chili Powder- 1 tsp or to taste
  
• Haldi (Turmeric Powder)- a pinch
  
• Jeera (Cumin Seeds)- 2 tsp
  
• Sabut Dhaniya (Whole Coriander Seeds)- 2 to 3 tsp
  
• Anardana Seeds- 3 tsp
  
• Ginger- 1″ Chopped fine
  
• Garlic- 2 cloves, minced
  
• Ghee- 1 ½ tsp
  
• Oil- 2 tsp
  
• Coriander Leaves
  

A Few Tips:

• No matter what, you HAVE to soak the chickpes overnight..!! There’s no shortcut..!!
  
• You can use tea bags instead of tea leaves.
  
• Chickpeas are very dry, even after you boil them, they are going to be very dry from inside. So just to add that extra moisture, I had heard about this tip of adding little baking soda while boiling the chickpeas as it makes them really soft. I tried this for the first time and it surly works. But be very careful as this makes them really very soft and if you boil them for a long time, they will completely mashup..!! If you want, you could skip the baking soda.
  
• Do not add too much water while boiling the chickpeas, just enough to cover them.
  
• You could add amchoor instead of anardana, but I prefer anardana.
  
• You can add some boiled potatoes as well. It gives it a good taste.
  

  
  

Method:

• Wash the chickpeas and Soak them along with the tea leaves overnight. (8 hours)
  
• Boil the chickpeas with the tea leaves/bags, badi elaichi, dalchini, laung, baking soda and salt. It took only 4 whistles when I added baking soda.
  
• Chop and puree the onion, tomato, green chilies, ginger and garlic.
  
• In a kadhai, add some oil and add the puréed onion-tomato masala. Cook it until the masala becomes dry and starts leaving oil. Add little salt to quicken the process.
  
• Dry roast jeera, coriander seeds and anardana seeds. Once they turn little golden brown, grind them. The aroma and taste on fresh spices is just ultimate. This is the most special part of these chole. You won’t be able to get that amazing taste with the ground spices you buy from the stores.
  
• Add the spice mix, little red chili powder and haldi to the masala. Cook it for just 1 minute.
  
• Once the pressure from the cooker has been released, (at this point, remove the tea bags) add the chole to the masala. Don’t add all the water, just a little. You could add more water later.
  
• If you’re adding potatoes, add them now.
  
• Let it come to a boil on medium flame and cook for another 5 minutes.
  
• Taste it to check the salt balance. If there’s something missing, you could add it to your taste at this point.
  
• Heat up some ghee in a small pan, add ½ tsp red chili powder. Pour it over the chole and mix well.
  
• Add coriander leaves.
  
• Garnish it with sliced onions, tomatoes and green chillies.
  

Here you are with the amazing chole..!! It’s an amazing recipe for sure. With every bite, I just remembered my mom.

You should for sure give this a try. Serve it hot with Bhaturas and aam ka aachar. You could try my Stuffed Bhatura recipe here https://lifewithflavours.com/2015/09/01/paneer-pudina-stuffed-bhature/