This Chole recipe is inspired by the chole served on the streets of Delhi and Punjab. The curry is made with chickpeas simmered in an onion-tomato gravy flavored with a freshly ground homemade chole masala and herbs. This Punjabi Chole Masala has bold, well-balanced flavors and follows a traditional North Indian method.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 540 minutes
  • Cook time: 45 minutes
  • Total time: 585 minutes
  • Yield: 5
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: North Indian, Punjabi

Ingredients

  • 1 cup/200 grams dried white chickpeas ((garbanzo beans, kabuli chana or safed chole))
  • 3 cups water (– for soaking chickpeas)
  • 2½ to 3 cups water (– for pressure cooking the chickpeas)
  • 2 to 3 dried amla (or dried Indian gooseberry or 1 black tea bag, optional)
  • ½ teaspoon salt (or add as required)
  • ⅓ cup onions (– finely chopped)
  • ½ cup tomatoes (– finely chopped)
  • ½ teaspoon ginger garlic paste (or 2 to 3 small garlic cloves + ½ inch ginger, crushed to a paste in a mortar)
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder ((ground turmeric))
  • ½ teaspoon red chili powder (or cayenne pepper)
  • ¼ teaspoon garam masala (– optional)
  • ¾ to 1 teaspoon amchur powder ((dry mango powder), optional and only to be added when you do not have dry pomegranate seeds)
  • 2 to 3 green chilies (– slit)
  • 1 to 1¼ cups water (or the stock in which the chickpeas are cooked)
  • 1.5 to 2 tablespoons oil
  • salt (– as required)
  • 2 black cardamoms
  • 1 inch cinnamon
  • 3 to 4 black peppercorns
  • 2 cloves
  • 1 tej patta ((Indian bay leaf), medium sized)
  • ¼ teaspoon carom seeds ((ajwain))
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
  • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • ½ teaspoon dry pomegranate seeds (– optional)
  • 1 to 2 kashmiri red chilies
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons coriander leaves (– chopped, (cilantro))
  • ½ to 1 inch ginger (– julienne)
  • 1 onion (– small to medium-sized, sliced or chopped)
  • 1 tomato (– small to medium-sized, sliced or chopped)
  • 1 lemon (or lime, sliced or quartered)

Method

Soaking & Cooking Chickpeas

  1. Rinse the chickpeas a couple of times in fresh water. Then soak them in water overnight or for 8 to 9 hours. Add enough amount of water as the chickpeas increase in size after soaking it. Later drain the water and again rinse the soaked chickpeas with fresh water.
  2. To give a dark color to the chickpeas, traditionally dried amla (Indian gooseberries) are added. These also give a faint sourness to the stock. If you do not have dried amla, then add 1 black tea bag.
  3. In a 3-litre stovetop pressure cooker add the chickpeas along with the 3 to 4 dried amla pieces or 1 black tea bag. Taj black tea bags work very well. Then add water.
  4. Season with salt and pressure cook the chickpeas for 12 to 15 whistles (or 15 to 18 minutes) on medium heat. The chickpeas should be cooked well and softened. The chickpeas should be soft when you mash it with a spoon or eat it. The chickpeas should not give you a bite when you eat it.

Making Chole Masala Powder

  1. In a pan, take all the whole spices for the "chole masala powder" mentioned above and on a low heat begin to roast them.
  2. Stir often and roast the spices till they get extra browned. Don't burn them.You have to go beyond a point roasting them even after they become fragrant and they get more browned than what is the norm usually.
  3. Let these roasted spices cool and then grind or powder them finely in a coffee grinder or in a dry grinder.
  4. By now the chole will be cooked. You will see a darker brown shade in the cooked chickpeas. Remove the amla pieces which would have softened by now or the tea bag from the stock.

Making Onion Tomato Masala

  1. Heat oil in a pan or kadai. Add ginger-garlic paste and on a low heat, sauté for few seconds or till their raw aroma goes away.
  2. Then add chopped onions and on medium-low heat sauté them stirring often until they turn translucent or light brown.
  3. Add tomatoes and on medium-low heat, sauté them stirring often for 4 to 5 minutes or until they soften and the oil starts to leave the sides of the onion and tomato mixture.
  4. Lower the heat and then add all of the powdered spices that was ground, together with the red chili powder, turmeric powder and garam masala powder (optional).
  5. Stir and mix the dry ground spices and then add slit green chilies
  6. Add the cooked chickpeas. Mix well.
  7. Add salt according to taste. Next add about 1 to 1.25 cups of the stock in which the chickpeas was cooked. You can also add water instead.
  8. Stir and cover the pan with a lid.

Making Punjabi Chole

  1. Simmer on a low to medium heat. You can also cook the chole masala without the lid.
  2. The gravy will thicken and reduce. Mash a few chickpeas as this helps in thickening the gravy.
  3. Simmer till you get the consistency you prefer. The consistency of this curry is not thin, but medium consistency or semi-dry. For thick or semi-dry consistency add less water.
  4. If you have not added dry pomegranate seeds while roasting the spices, then you need to add amchur powder (dry mango powder) now. Mix and stir well.
  5. Serve the Punjabi Chole with kulcha, bhatura, poori, roti, naan, bread with a side of sliced onions, tomatoes and lemon or lime wedges.
  6. While serving garnish with coriander leaves and ginger julienne.
  7. This Chole Masala also tastes good with steamed rice or jeera rice or saffron rice.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.