| Prep Time | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time | 20 minutes |
| Servings |
servings
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- 2 cans garbanzo beans/chickpeas if you're using dry beans, soak about a cup in plenty of water for about 8 hours, and then pressure cook them for a good 30 minutes, i typically use the canned beans
- 2 medium juicy tomatoes
- 1 medium onion white/red onion is fine
- 2 tbsp tamarind extract optional
- 2 tbsp green chili + julienned fresh ginger Ginger is very important in this recipe to offset the bean effect
- 2 tbsp oil
- 2 tsp Salt
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp Cumin seeds
- 1 inch piece of cinnamon
- 2 tbsp chole masala Readily available in any Indian grocery store
- 1 tsp kashmiri chili powder more for color than for heat, use regular chili powder if you want heat
- 1 tsp anardhana/pomegranate powder Available in Indian grocery store, this adds a unique taste
- 1/2 tsp Amchur/dry mango powder Adds a lovely tang
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
- 1 medium red onion finely chopped
- 1 lemon/lime sliced
- 1 green chili more as needed
- 1 sprig cilantro finely chopped
Ingredients
Whole Spices For Tempering
Powdered Spices
For Garnish
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- Gather all the ingredients
- Chop onions finely, julienne ginger, slit chilies, chop tomatoes
- Heat oil in a pressure cooker pan, and when hot but not smoking, add all the whole spices (cumin, bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon) and saute
- Add onions, saute for about 3 minutes, until translucent
- Add slit chilies and ginger and saute
- Add all the spice powders in a mortar/pestle with a little bit of water or the tamarind extract if using, and make a paste
- Add this paste to the onion/chili/ginger mix and mix thoroughly
- Add tomatoes and saute, adding salt to the whole mix. Salt helps cook the tomatoes quickly
- Cook for about 7 minutes, until the tomatoes turn pulpy, and everything forms a homogenous mass, oozing out oil
- Add the rinsed garbanzo at this point, give it a good mix and cover and cook with the pressure on for about 10 minutes to let all the flavors blend; if you don't have a pressure cooker, at this point you could transfer to a slow cooker and cook it on low heat for a few hours
- Remove from heat, garnish with the ingredients listed under Garnish
- Enjoy with puri, bhatura or in a pinch, toasted bread Recipes for puri/bhatura to come soon! Watch this space.
Being from the southern part of India, this dish was new to me growing up, and I was introduced to it by a little roadside vendor who opened shop near our house in Chennai and I was hooked! The white bhaturas, with a dark brown chole was novel, tangy, different and just lovely. I didn't know for a long time how they got the brown color and the special unique tang until I researched online and hit on 3 ingredients:
1. Tamarind extract or tea bags used while cooking dry beans, soaked. I have never tried the tea bag method, just add tamarind extract if I'm in the mood for it, and if my tomatoes are not tart enough
2. Pomegranate and dry mango powders - my daughter tells me this recipe is more flavorful and loves it! I understand these are special flavoring used in the traditional Punjabi way of making this dish!
3. I have omitted garlic in this version, but you could add a couple of cloves of minced garlic with the ginger/chili if you love garlic
Enjoy! I haven't had real punjabi chole made by a Punjabi in India, so my version is what I know. My kids love it, and this recipe is for them!