Wednesday, February 8, 2012

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 :






























24 comments:

  1. very nice chhole!....great step by step pics.

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  2. a lovely gravy with chick peas...superb

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  3. Very inviting and tempting chole !! love to have it bhatura !!

    Ongoing Event - CC-Dish For Loved Ones

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  4. you are tempting me with my fave combo..perfectly made..loved ur recipe..must try

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  5. Tondala mats pani sutale.. Mala punjabi chole awdtat and geeta bahvan cha chat mi pun try kela hota.. amchya office mahdye ek client gheun yayacha.. good old days..
    Love Ash.

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  6. Nice stepwise clicks and chhole looks yummy! :P
    The last 2 pictures are making me drool! :)

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  7. Very nice Amerendra.. where do u get the courage for clicking pics at every step.. I love chhole too and make them quite often..

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  8. great clicks and presentation..awesome chole

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  9. Feel like grabbing one of the puris with some of this delicious chole....looks totally yum

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  10. looks super delicious..super tempting clicks..drooling here!!
    Kande Pohe

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  11. That's an extremely superb recipe....

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  12. Love the choley, it looks delicious ! First time here you have a wonderful space. Look forward to many more delicious posts in this space :)

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  13. Chhole is really looking delicious....I tried 2-3 version of chhole....but this is quite new to me....must try next time..book marked...Nice clicks

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  14. Looks delicious! Love the presentation!

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  15. Thanks for dropping by space:) love your blog, following u now too! Load soy maharastrian dishes..am going to have field time learning :D

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  16. Hi first time here, the choley looks really tempting, feel like digging in, I wud luv to try some of your traditional dishes, glad to follow U, do visit my space sometime..

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  17. First time here....
    chole looks delicious and very tempting:)
    very well explained.
    glad to follow u :)
    happy to be a 100th follower too.....

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  18. Looks so yummm.... First time here and you have a wonderful space.

    -Lavanya.
    My Recent Post: Mutta / Egg Paniyaram

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  19. Amarendra... Happy to give you the Liebster Award..Do drop by my space to collect it! Here's the link
    Liebster Blog Award

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  20. They are, without a doubt, the BEST Chole pics I have ever seen! They looks so delicious! :)

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  21. Loved the recipe & the thick gravy! Looks really delicious!! I'm gonna prepare this tomorrow :)
    Ongoing-''Valentine's Day Event''(till Feb 20th)

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  22. The chole looks amazing. Chole with batura are my favorite make my favorite meal. THese are the best chole I have seen in a long time. Amazing..!

    My event- Valentines Day Special

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  23. Wow, I've never heard of pressure cooking chickpeas with a tea bag! Is that for flavor, can I use any black tea bag?

    Ciao,

    L

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