Amritsari Chole
An authentic curry recipe from Punjab made with chickpeas.
Ingredients
- 1 heaped cup chickpeas / white chana
- 3 tsp tea powder
- 1.5 cups water
To cook the chana
- 2 - 2 inch sticks cinnamon
- 2 black cardamom / badi elaichi
- 4 green cardamom
- 7-8 cloves
- 2-3 bay leaves
- 1/8 tsp whole black pepper
- 1/4 tsp carom seeds / ajwain
- 5-6 cloves garlic, cut lengthwise
- 1 star anise
- salt, to taste
For the chole masala
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1+1 tbsp ghee
- 1 2-inch piece ginger, julienned
- 3 green chilies, julienned
- 1 large onion, ground to a paste
- 1 tbsp ginger-garlic-green chili paste
- 3 ripe tomatoes, pureed
- 1/8 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tbsp red chili powder
- 1 tbsp coriander powder
- 1 tbsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp amchur powder
- 1 tsp anardhana powder
- 2 tbsp chole masala powder
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp kasuri methi
- handful of coriander leaves
Instructions
- Wash and soak dry white chana in enough water for a minimum of 5-6 hours or overnight.
- Discard the water and transfer the soaked chickpeas to a pressure cooker.
- Boil 1.5 cups of water along with 3 tsp of tea powder in a pot.
- Strain the black tea using a strainer to the pressure cooker and add all the ingredients mentioned under 'To cook the chana' to the chana.
- Add salt as per taste, 2 cups of water and close the lid. Pressure cook the chana for 4-5 whistles or until thoroughly cooked. Let the pressure settle naturally.
- Meanwhile, cut the ginger and green chili as shown in the picture. Grind the onions to a smooth paste and puree the tomatoes.
- To a heavy-bottomed vessel, add 1 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp ghee and let it heat.
- When the oil is hot, add half of the julienned ginger and green chili. Reserve the other half of both for a final tadka. Fry them for 30 seconds.
- Add the onion paste and cook until it changes color.
- Add the ginger-garlic-green chili paste and cook until the raw smell disappears. Cook until the onion paste starts to brown.
- Add the pureed tomatoes and mix well. Cook for a minute.
- Add turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, amchur powder, anardhana powder and chole masala powder to the onion-tomato mixture. Cook until oil separates.
- Add some water to this mixture if it becomes very dry.
- Add the pressure-cooked chana along with the spices and the water to the onion-tomato mixture. Mix well and let it come to a boil.
- Now, add the garam masala, kasuri methi and the coriander leaves and check for salt. Let the curry simmer until the desired consistency of gravy is achieved. Switch off the stove.
- In a tadka pan, add 1 tbsp ghee and add the reserved ginger and green chilies. Let it fry. Add this tadka to the chole masala before serving.
- Serve Amritsari chole with butter naan or paratha or rice.
Notes
- Soak the chana for a minimum of 5-6 hours.
- You can add tea bags directly in the pressure cooker instead of making black tea.
- The whole spices used when cooking the chana can be discarded if not needed. I did not discard it.
- The amount of green chili can be altered as per taste.
- If you do not have anardhana powder, then replace with amchur powder or simply neglect it. The taste will differ slightly.
- While cooking the onion paste, add some water if it becomes too dry.
- Usually, the curry is served very thick. But, you can always alter the consistency of the curry as per taste.