chole bhature
A chickpea curry that is comforting for the soul. Serve it with bhature, a fried bread and some aloo for the complete street food vibe! this recipe is my nani’s and like everything she used to cook, this is as perfect as chole gets in my books.
Spice mix
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1½ tbsp cumin seeds
seeds from 3 to 4 green cardamom pods
seeds from 2 black cardamom pods
½ tbsp cloves
Dry roast on a pan until fragrant & grind into fine powder.
Potatoes
250 g potatoes, boiled, then peeled & quartered
2 tbsp oil
pinch hing
3-4 green chilis, slit
1 tsp spice mix
½ tsp salt
Heat oil in a saute pan. Crackle the chilis and add spice mix, salt and potatoes. Mix well to ensure the potatoes are coated well. Allow them to crisp up, about 5-10 minutes.
1 cup dried chicks peas (or 3 cups canned chickpeas)
75g onion, puréed
160g tomato, about 2 roma tomatoes puréed
4-6 garlic cloves, paste
1 tbsp anar dana (pomegranate seeds)
2 tbsp oil, divided
pinch of hing (asafoetida)
1 tsp spice mix
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp dhana jeeru (coriander seed powder)
½ tsp ginger chilli paste
1 tsp salt
2 green chillies, slit
10 to 15 one inch pieces ginger, julienne
pinch sanchar (black salt)
Soak dried chickpeas in water for a few hours or overnight. Cook in pressure cooker per package instructions. Soak pomegranate seeds in 2 tbsp water.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pot over medium low heat. Add hing, spice mix, chilli powder, dhana jeeru, ginger chilli paste, garlic paste, salt and the tomato and onion puree. Let simmer uncovered (~5 mins). Next, add in the chickpeas along with the water. (~ 2 cups water)
In a food processor, blitz the soaked anar dana. Add 2 more tbsp of water and mix thoroughly. Strain this into the gravy, reserving the discard collected in the strainer. (You might need it to add extra zing to our chole if need be). Stir and allow to cook for another 20 to 25 uncovered. You will notice the color change into a deep brown and the gravy thicken.
Lastly, when ready to serve, prepare the tadka. In a smaller pot, heat 1 tbsp oil and add the slit green chillies and ginger. Once it starts to crackle, remove off of heat and add the sanchar. Stir and pour over the chole.
Serve hot with potatoes, bhature and beet pulau.