Punjabi Chole Masala

Punjabi Chole Masala or Chana Masala is one of the most popular curry dishes from India. In fact, in north India, no wedding or party is complete until you have chole masala on the menu.

So what actually is chole masala? In this recipe, chickpeas are cooked with onions, tomatoes, and lots of spices. A special blend of spices called “chole powder/masala” is easily available at every Indian store. One can make chole masala powder at home too by dry roasting ingredients like cumin, cloves, coriander, peppercorn, cardamom, etc.

Chickpeas Indian curry where chickpeas are cooked with lots and lots of spices. Goes well with naan, roti, or plain rice.

Here is its quick recipe:

PREP TIME: 15 mins | COOK TIME: 1 hr | TOTAL TIME: 1 hr 15 mins

INGREDIENTS

To pressure cook

2 cups + 2 tablespoons raw chickpeas
5-6 green cardamom pods
4-5 black peppercorn
2 bay leaves
2 cinnamon sticks
take 2 tea bags
salt to taste
5 cups water

For the chole masala

1 tablespoon oil
3-4 cloves
3/4 cup pureed onion from 2 small onions
2 teaspoons ginger-garlic paste
2.5 cups pureed tomatoes from 4 medium tomatoes
3 teaspoons chole masala
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder or to taste
1/2 teaspoon paprika powder
3/4 teaspoon cumin powder
salt to taste

To garnish

1 tablespoon ghee
1-inch ginger cut into julienne
take 1/4 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 tablespoon crushed Kasuri methi also known as dried fenugreek leaves
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

INSTRUCTIONS

Soak the chickpeas overnight in enough water to cover them. In the morning, drain the water.
In a pressure cooker add the soaked and drained chickpeas, 2 tea bags, bay leaves, cardamom, cinnamon stick, salt and 4 to 5 cups water. Pressure cook at high flame till you get 1-2 whistles.
After that lower the flame to medium and let the chickpeas cook for another 10-12 minutes.
In a wok, heat 1 tablespoon of oil. Once hot, add cloves and grated onions.
Fry the onions till the raw smell goes away and they are light golden brown in color.
Add ginger-garlic paste and cook for 3-4 minutes till the smell of ginger-garlic goes away.
Now add the tomato puree, stir and let it cook for 12-15 minutes on medium-low flame.
Cover the pan to prevent the splash all around.
Add the chole masala, red chili powder, paprika powder, cumin powder, salt, and mix for 1-2 minutes.
Add the chickpeas next and stir well all the chickpeas are coated with the spices, around 2 minutes.
Now, Add water (which was used for boiling the chickpeas), cover the pan, and let it simmer at the medium-low flame for around 30 minutes.
The gravy will thicken after 30 minutes so add water accordingly.
To temper, heat 1 tbsp of ghee in a pan and the ginger julienne to it.
Fry till the juliennes are golden brown in color but do not burn them. Add to the chole curry, mix and switch off the flame.
Sprinkle some garam masala, Kasuri methi, and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
Serve with roti, paratha, or plain rice.

NOTES

Skip the ghee in the tempering to make this vegan.
To cut short the process of soaking chickpeas overnight, use canned chickpeas which are easily available at grocery stores. The canned ones can be prepared immediately and do not need to be soaked overnight.
Adjust the amount of red chili powder in the recipe to taste.
Patience is something you will need while cooking chole or any such Indian curry. If you want to make it in a quicker way by adding everything to the pressure cooker. But if you let the tomatoes and onions cook really well and then simmer the chickpeas with the spices for a longer time, the taste would be much much better.
Chole masala actually tastes the best 1 day after you make it because the spices are then better incorporated into the chickpeas.
Chole freezes well. Let the curry come down to room temperature, store in an airtight container, and freeze.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Calories: 248 kcal

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