I have been looking for a great Punjabi Chole recipe for such a long time that when I found it accidentally I almost shed tears of joy and disbelief. Imagine my surprise when a reunion planned at my friend’s place who isn’t a fan of cooking (After all, it is Delhi. I would hardly want to cook if I was in the chaat city.)led me to these mouth-watering cholas. To save her the trouble, ( she has two small kids) we decided on catered food but also requested her to have little rice and any curry on the side for kids in case the outside food was spicy. Also, I was flying back to the US that same evening and hence wanted to stick with as much home-made food as possible.
She said “Oh, my cook Tulsi makes good Punjabi Chole. Should I have her make that with rice?” ‘Good‘ was such an understatement, believe me. But it was mentioned in such an apprehensive and understated manner that it was translated to ‘decent‘ at best, by me. But we were meeting after such a long time (14 years) that even for a foodie like me, food took second priority. And that almost never ever happens. Anyways, long story short, we agreed.
One bite and I had to go to the kitchen to thank the cook but also, equally important, to ask her for the recipe. Since then I have made them 6-7 times and every time they have been a hit. If you are on a diet or a fitness enthusiast or easily get scared with the amount of oil in a recipe, I would say this recipe is not for you. If the choice is between making a bad version of an awesome recipe or not making it at all, I always go for the latter. I would advise you to do the same. But make this the right way and you have found yourself a crowd pleaser. And that oil…… 2 miles brisk walk should do it.
PS- Thank you ” Tulsi” for the mouth-watering recipe and my friend ” Shilpa” for almost translating it into measurable amounts and sending it to me. 🙂
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cup Chick peas
- 1 tsp Salt
- 5 tsp Tea Leaves
- 3 cups Water
- Less than 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 cup Oil
- 1 tbsp. grated Ginger
- 1 tbsp. grated Garlic
- 7-8 black Peppercorns
- 1/2 black Cardamom, crushed
- 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch Cinnamon stick
- 2 Cloves
- 1/2 Onion (95 gms)
- 2 Tomatoes (140 gms)
- 2 green chilies, small and spicy
- 1 and 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp red Chili Powder
- 1 and 1/2 tsp Coriander powder
- 2 tsp MDH Chana Masala
- 1 cup water
- Cilantro, chopped
- Onion Rings
- Green Chili, fried
Instructions
- In a bowl, soak chickpeas in water overnight or for 8 hours.
- In morning, drain the water and add chickpeas in a pressure cooker. In a muslin cloth, add the tea leaves and tie it to form a potli. Add it in the cooker along with water, soda and salt.
- When they cook properly and you can squeeze the chole very easily and completely between your finger then turn off the stove and keep aside.
- In a mixer, add onion, tomato and green chili and make a puree using little water.
- In a heavy bottomed wok, add oil, peppercorns, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, ginger and garlic. Let it sizzle slightly before adding the onion-tomato puree.
- Add salt, chili powder, coriander powder to it and let it cook until the raw smell of onion and garlic goes away completely. (about one hour)
- Add chana masala and chole to the spices, add water and let it cook for another 30 minutes.
- Garnish with cilantro, onion rings and fried green chili. Serve hot. Enjoy.
Notes
If you are using an iron wok to cook chana then you can skip the tea leaves while boiling them as you will get the dark brown color from the wok.
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The recipe looks amazing, just 1 question ……..do I have to roast the tomato onion paste for a full hour??
Thank you for liking Padmaja. You have to cook it until you cannot smell ginger, garlic or onion at all. In my opinion, it takes 45-60 min on medium heat for that. Of course, more you roast the spices, the better the taste 🙂