Punjabi Chhole

Punjabi Chhole (commonly known as Chana Masala) is a very popular and one of my all-time favourite dish from North India. This dish is usually paired with Bhatura, which is a deep fried version of a naan and looks like a very big puri. 

Chhole-Bhature is one of the forms in which this dish is consumed. Apart from this, people use Chhole in various chat dishes. One of the popular chat version is where Chhole is served on a potato patty. I had tried this at Geeta Bhavan restaurant located at Mumbai Central.  

 Ingredients :

To soak chhole or chickpeas:

250 gms chickpeas
1 tspn Soda bicarb
Water

To cook chickpeas:

Soaked chickpeas

1 tea bag

Salt

Water

For Chana Masala:
3 tbspn vegetable oil
1 tspn Shahi Jeera (Cumin)
1 medium sized onions (finely chopped)
1 cup onion paste (Cooked onion paste)
2 tspn garlic paste
1 tbspn ginger paste
1 tspn green chilly paste
2 tomatoes chopped
3 tomatoes pureed 
2 tspns coriander powder
1 tspn cumin powder
1/2 tspn turmeric powder
1 tspn red chilly powder
1 tspn Punjabi Chhole Masala or Garam Masala
1 tspn lemon juice
2 tbspn chopped coriander leaves

For Garnishing :
Chopped coriander
Ginger julienne (Optional)
Onion rings

To Serve with :
Bhatura 
Sliced onions
Lemon wedge

Method :

To soak chhole or chickpeas:

Wash and drain the chickpeas and soak it over night (or for 6-7 hours) in water containing soda-bicard. Soda bicarb reduces the cooking time of chhole and makes them lighter. 

To cook chickpeas:

Pressure cook chickpeas with little water, 1 tea bag and salt. Once cooked, drain the water from the chickpeas and keep it aside for later use in the gravy. 

To make Punjabi Chhole :
Heat oil in a Kadhai and add royal cumin seeds. Once it crackles, add chopped onions and saute it until the onions are soft and golden brown in colour. Add ginger paste, garlic paste, chilly paste and onion paste. Saute it for a minute or two. 

Add the chopped tomatoes and stir for 2 minutes. Then, add tomato puree and cook it for 6-8  minutes or till the time it starts releasing oil. Add the coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, chilly powder and chhole masala or garam masala and stir. Add some water to prevent spices from burning. Then, lower the heat and cook for further 2-3 minutes.

Add the chickpeas and stir. Add salt to taste and then add a cup of the chickpeas water kept aside. Simmer for about 20 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed. Add the chopped coriander leaves. Finally, add lemon juice and turn off the flame.

Garnish it with chopped coriander leaves and ginger julienne. Serve hot with Bhatura or puris.

Notes :

Along with Bhatura, you can also serve additional accompaniments such as sliced onions, green chilly and mango pickle and lemon wedges.

The tea bag gives a dark colour to the chickpeas. Alternatively, if you are going to cook this dish in an iron pan, avoid putting tea bags during the cooking process.

Stepwise Pictures :