Cook Chole
Chole (also known as chana masala or chole masala) is a chickpea-based North Indian dish. It is spicy, rich, and has a faint taste of citrus. In India, the dish is often enjoyed with bhatoora, a type of fried bread. You can also find it in countries outside of India, from places like British Indian restaurants to the frozen food aisle at an American Trader Joe's. If you want to know how to make your own chole, see Step 1 to get started.
Ingredients
- 1 cup chickpeas (kabuli channa)
- 2 diced potatoes
- 2 diced tomatoes
- 2 tbsp. coriander leaves (dhania)
- 1 tbsp. cumin powder (jeera)
- 2 tbsp. chilli powder
- 1 tbsp. mango powder (amchur powder)
- 1 tbsp. chole masala
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper powder
- 3 tsp. ghee (clarified butter)
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 bay leaves
- For garnish:
- 1 sliced tomato
- 1 chili pepper
- 2 tbsp. chopped coriander
- slice of lemon
- Cooking time: 30 minutes
- Preparation time: 15 minutes
- Serves 3-4 people
Steps
- Soak the chickpeas in cold water for at least 6 hours. You should soak 1 cup of dried chickpeas in cold water overnight, or even for 24 hours to get the best results. Alternately, if you're short on time, you can just use a can of chickpeas instead of completing the soaking process, but your dish won't be quite as tasty.
- Cook the chickpeas in a pressure cooker. After you've soaked the chickpeas, also known as channa, you can drain and rinse them before placing them in a pressure cooker. Pour just enough water to cover the chickpeas into the pressure cooker. Place 1 tablespoon of salt and 2 bay leaves in the cooker and cook the chana for about 20 minutes, until it is just a bit tender; the chickpeas will soften up more after you fry them. You can also use a heavy saucepan if you don't have a pressure cooker.
- Fry the potatoes in a saucepan with ghee. Heat three tablespoons of ghee (clarified butter) in a saucepan and place 2 diced potatoes in it. Fry the potatoes until they are soft, for around 10 minutes. Once the potatoes are done cooking, remove them from the pan but leave the ghee in it.
- Fry the coriander leaves, cumin, and chili powder in the same saucepan for a few seconds. Use the remaining ghee you used to cook the potatoes to fry 2 tablespoons of coriander leaves (dhania), 1 tablespoon of cumin (jeera powder), and 2 tablespoons of chili powder.
- Add the boiled chickpeas to the saucepan and fry for 5 minutes. Add the boiled chickpeas to the frying pan and stir them with the under ingredients. Set the pan to low-to-medium heat.
- Add the chole masala, mango powder, and black pepper powder and cook for 2 minutes. After you've fried the chickpeas with some of the other spices and ghee, add 1 tablespoon of mango powder, 1 tablespoon of chole masala, and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper powder. Stir the ingredients together.
- Add the diced potatoes and tomato to the pan and cook for 2 minutes. Add the 2 cooked diced potatoes and the 1 sliced tomato to the pan. When you're done, remove the dish from the pan and place it on a plate.
- Add garnish. Add garnish to the dish by placing tomato slices around the plate, placing a chili pepper over it, and sprinkling it with chopped coriander.
- Serve. You can serve this tasty dish with bhatoora, puris, barley, or rice. You can also top it with sour cream and a squeeze of lemon juice.
- Consider making another variation of chole. You can make a variation of this dish by using different spices or veggies while following a similar process. Try making some of these variations of chole:
- Methi chole. This dish includes an onion or tomato paste, fenugreek leaves, cardamom, and cinnamon.
- Palak chole. This chole dish includes spinach, or palak.
- Chole with coconut. This tasty dish gets some of its unique flavor from grated coconut.
Related Articles
Sources and Citations
- http://www.mendosa.com/recipe20.htm
- http://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/punjabi-chole-chickpeas-in-a-spicy-gravy/
- http://madteaparty.wordpress.com/2007/12/09/punjabi-chhole-chickpeas/
- http://www.chow.com/recipes/30267-chole-chana-masala
