Chole Bhatura is a very common dish of Punjab and a favorite in our house too. Amritsari chole is one variation of the chole recipes found in Punjab and can be found in many roadside dhabas as well as hotels and restaurants. It is characterized by the dark brown color of the gravy . This flavorful dish made with chickpeas or garbanzo beans simmered in a gravy of onions, tomatoes and a whole lot of Indian spices has become a common favorite of many an Indian all over the world. One of the ingredients that sets Amritsari Chole apart from any other chole dish of Punjab, is a tea bag, yes a tea bag, preferably a black tea bag!! When pressure cooking the beans, a tea bag is immersed and this imparts a dark brown color and amazingly, you do not get any tea flavor in it!! It is normally served with a variety of breads like rotis, puris, kulchas, naan etc. But it goes best with a puffy, soft bhatura, a deep fried bread made with flour and yogurt. I love leftovers of this with rice, which takes it to a different level, like the rajma-chawal of Punjab. Hope you will try my version of Amritsari Chole with bhatura (recipe of bhatura found here) and love it too!!
UPDATED RECIPE WITHOUT TEA BAGS or WHOLE SPICES and WITH HOMEMADE CHOLE MASALA:
Although adding tea bags while cooking the chickpeas does add a tad flavor and of course the dark color of tea, my family sometimes is a bit hesitant to eat the black version of chole! Also, whenever my boys enjoy their chole, they always, complain or make a face whenever a piece of whole spices like cinnamon, cloves or even cardamom, ends up in their mouth and I don’t blame them too! Does your family do that too?
So, I decided to make a version without using tea bags and using only powdered spices. Win, win for all of us. To do that, I basically roasted all the whole spices (mentioned in the recipe card below like cardamom, star anise, cloves, methi seeds/fenugreek seeds etc.) and ground them in a coffee grinder to a fine powder. Instead of adding whole spices, I just sprinkled the freshly ground spice mix while sautéing the aromatics like onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic etc. along with the powdered spices mentioned in the RECIPE CARD below. Rest of the recipe is the same. We enjoyed this version with some Curry Leaves Pulao and an Instant Carrot and Radish Pickle. (Make it thick using less water or add more water while making the dish for a gravy like masala which my hubby prefers).
Do try this version or even the one with tea bag and whole spices. Either way, you are going to enjoy this Punjabi version of chole/chana masala. It goes perfect with parathas, rotis, bhaturas, rice, bread etc.!
If you love chickpeas/chole, then do try these versions using chana/chickpeas too:
30-minute Chana Masala Curry with Spinach Original Instant Pot/Pressure Cooker Chole Easy Marinated Vegetable Salad with Chickpeas Pan Roasted Tandoori Chickpeas
Time to share my recipe….and PRINT/SAVE:
Enjoy and Happy Cooking/Eating! Perfect with any Indian bread especially Bhature or any rice too!
For the chana: 1 cup chickpeas or kabuli chana, soaked overnight, washed, drained and cooked (with 1 black tea bag till soft) For the tomato puree: 1 large tomato 2 medium green chillies For the chole masala: 2 tablespoons oil 1 tablespoon ghee or butter (use oil if vegan) 1 star anise 1 bay leaf 5 cloves 1-inch piece cinnamon 5 to 6 methi (fenugreek) seeds ¼ teaspoon hing or asafoetida (optional) ½ teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder ½ teaspoon jeera or cumin powder 2 teaspoons coriander powder ½ teaspoon turmeric powder 2 teaspoons chole masala powder 1 medium onion, chopped 1 teaspoon each grated ginger and garlic 1 big black cardomom ½ teaspoon chaat masala powder Salt to taste Coriander leaves and kasuri methi (fenugreek leaves) for garnishing
Instructions Notes Try to make this dish a few hours ahead or even a day earlier as the flavor increases the longer it is in the gravy. Adjust the amount of spices according to personal preference. Use whole spices as mentioned in the recipe card or blend them to a fine powder as mentioned in the post in a different version avoiding tea bag. (So, if you prefer your spices in powder form, then roast and powder the whole spices (cinnamon, methi, cloves, star anise and black cardamom), before adding to the curry. I try and add all the powdered spices while sautéing onions and tomatoes). Enjoy and Happy Eating!
