Punjabi Chole Two Ways(Chickpea Curry)
Chole Bhature is a very famous North Indian dish, which is eaten through out India and even overseas. I believe mostly in North India it’s a staple Sunday breakfast or brunch.. There are so many joint’s that are very famous for their chole bhature and people love them to life.
I have lived a couple of years in Delhi and my husband is a die hard fan of this dish.. especially from Anandji (Lajpat Nagar). Still when we visit India, every single day, yes you heard me right every day he will have it for his brunch.. And if that’s accompanied with lassi it’s the best combination.. Personally, I can’t handle this too much, it’s very heavy and spicy for me(the store bought version). I enjoy it occasionally and prefer homemade rather than market ones.
So this time again I made chole Bhature at my Melbourne residence on my husband’s demand.. or craving as I say!! First Way – Using paneer in it is one of the ways which can give this dish more of a north Indian touch.
Update the second way: – I recently tried another version of this chole where I add aloo (potatoes) in my chole instead of paneer and this version was also a hit in my family. The aloo makes the texture more dense and increases the flavour to the dish. Lot’s of vendors use aloo instead of paneer.
Here presenting my version of Punjabi chole an Everyday Meal Idea – Simple & Easy.. Thanks for stopping by.. Happy Cooking 🙂
It’s always best to soak legumes overnight, they cook faster and it’s even said it helps to settle the acid levels. Wash the Chole properly and then in a cooker top up with water, one tea bag, 1 tsp salt and 2 black cardamom. Make sure to remove the tags from the tea bags and crack open the cardamom.
If the chole are soaked well, they might just need two to three whistles to cook properly. The proper consistency is when chole mashes easily between your fingers. Separate water and chole, make sure not to discard the water we will need it for the curry. Then add the dry spices and marinate the chole. Keep it aside meanwhile make the masala.
In a wok/kadhai/pan add ghee, once the it is hot add cinnamon stick, tej patta and cumin seeds. Let the seeds crackle then add sliced onions, chopped ginger and ginger – garlic paste.
Sauté the masala till it’s dark in colour and the raw smell of ginger garlic disappears (refer to the picture) then add the channa masala to it (if using).
Add yogurt and mix well.
Then add tomato puree and cook till it starts to blend well and leaves little oil. Then add green chillies slit lengthwise.
Meanwhile when the masala is cooking, take a ladle full of chole, using very little water and grind them to a paste. This helps the curry to thicken or else you would find curry watery. Mix the chole paste in the masala and sauté it further.
Then add the marinated chole, anardana and water(first use the water from the cooker) depending on the curry consistency you looking for.
For the first way- Cut paneer in small cubes and add them to the curry.
Mix the curry well, taste check and garnish with fresh coriander, julienne ginger and cumin powder.
For the second version we need to make aloo sabzi, for that we boil and mash potatoes. But make sure the potato are still chunky and not smooth mash. * If you are making the second version please look at the notes below.
In the pan add oil, once the oil is hot add jeera. Let the jeera splatter and then add chopped onions along with ginger garlic paste. Then add chopped onions and saute till its brown in colour. Then add tomatoes and green chilli and cook till oil separates.
Add all the dry spices and the mashed potatoes. Mix well and cook covered for around 7-8 minutes.
Once the sabzi is ready taste check and garnish with coriander. Then add the sabzi to your chole and cook the chole further till it’s blended well.
Serve it hot with Bhatura / Roti / Paratha or else Chole Chawal is also a awesome combination!!..
Punjabi Chole
Ingredients for chole:
- 2 cup Chole(Chickpea)
- 1 Tea bag
- 2 black Cardamon (Kali Elaichi)
- 2 Onions, minced
- 1 Onion, sliced
- 3 tsbp Ghee
- 1 tbsp homemade Cumin powder (Jeera powder)
- 1 tsp Coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
- 1 tsp Red chilli powder (Laal mirch)
- 1 tsp Garam Masala
- Salt to taste
- 1 tsp Cumin seeds (Jeera)
- 1 Cinnamon stick (Dalchinni)
- 1 Bay leaf (Tej patta)
- 1 tbsp Channa Masala (Optional)
- 2 tbsp dried Anardana powder
- 1 tsp Ginger, chopped (Adrak)
- 1 tbsp Garlic – Ginger paste (Adrak – Lasun paste)
- 1 cup Tomato puree
- 2 green Chillies, slit (Haari mirch)
- 2 tbsp yogurt (Dahi)
- 1/2 cup Cottage Cheese, diced (Paneer – for 1st method)
- Fresh coriander for garnish (Dhaniya)
- Ginger Juliennes for garnish
Ingredients for Aloo:
- 2 large Potatoes (Aloo), boiled
- 1 large Onion, chopped
- 2 medium Tomato, chopped
- 1 Green chilli, chopped
- Salt to taste
- 1 tbsp Ginger Garlic paste
- 1 tsp jeera
- 1 tbsp oil
- 2 tbsp Anardana powder
- 1 tsp red Chilli powder
- 1 tsp Coriander pwd
- 1 tsp Garam Masala
Method:
- Soak chole overnight for best results. Then in the pressure cooker add the chole, salt, kaali elachi, tea bag and enough water to soak them all well and little more to it. Make sure to remove the tags from the tea bag.
- Give two whistles or pressure cook till the chole are cooked properly and look little mushy. Once done separate the chole from the water, make sure not to throw the water away.
- In a mixing bowl add the chole and marinate them with salt, red chilli, jeera powder, dhaniya powder, anardana and garam masala and keep it aside.
- For making the aloo sabzi, in a wok add oil. Once the oil is hot add jeera to it and let the seed crackle, then add onion and let it cook. Add ginger garlic paste and cook further till onions are brown in colour.
- Add chopped tomatoes and cover the wok and cook till oil separates. Add the dry spices and mashes potatoes and cook till everything is mixed well and potatoes are completely covered in spices, then taste check. But make sure not to add too much spices as chole will also have spices in them. Garnish with coriander and keep aside.
- Then, in a wok add ghee and once the it is hot add jeera, tej patta and dalchinni. When the seeds start to crackle add chopped ginger . Saute it and then add the sliced onions and saute it further for a minute.
- Add the ginger garlic paste and saute it till the raw smell goes then add salt and minced onions.
- Cook onions till they are brown, mixing in between. Once the onions are brown add channa masala if using and tomato puree and sauté it well. Then cover and cook till oil separates from the mixture.
- Add slit green chillies and further cook the mixture.
- Take one ladle of marinated chole and grind it using very little water and add this to the masala on the gas. This step helps the curry to thicken.
- Now add the marinated chole and mix it well for all the masala to be coated well on the chole and cook it further for 5 minutes.
- Add water to the chole, depending on how much curry you prefer and further cook it for 5 minutes and then add the paneer cubes for the first version and mix them very gently not breaking them and let the chole cook for 5 to 7 minutes and do a taste check for salt or other spices and adjust them accordingly.
- For the second version(See Notes) add the sabzi in the chole. You can choose to add half quantity of aloo sabzi you have made or all of it, depending on preference. I added 3/4 of the sabzi and kept some to eat along. The similar to version one simmer chole further till everything is mixed well and add water if you want. Taste check.
- Then garnish them with dhaniya and adrak julivennes and serve hot with soft bhatura.
- Can be consumed with Bhatura, rice, roti or paratha also.
Notes:
- If you making the second version with aloo sabzi then make sure to add salt and other spices keeping in mind that chole and aloo both will have spices. Or else you will end up with a very salty and spicy curry.
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Food Kalakaar 
Great Post 👍
Thank you very much 🙂
Amazing. You know I just soaked channa this morning. Added tea bags but not the black cardamom. Will try it out next time. Great share. 🙂 Love the addition of paneer. Will try it out.
Thanks Srividhya.. Please do share if you try this version.. Good luck!!
I have never added paneer in chole.. looks so tasty 🙂
Thanks and do try 😊
Very hearty!
Thank you
Yumolicious! 🍓
Thank you 😊