Chole Bhature (छोले भटूरे)
Punjab's iconic weekend feast — chickpeas slow-simmered to a deep mahogany with chai-leaf darkness, served with golden-puffed leavened bhature.
Cuisine: North Indian (Punjab) · Style: Bread Meal · Protein: Lentils · Total time: · Difficulty: medium · Servings: 4 · Spice: 3/5
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
- 2 tea bags
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 green cardamoms
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 3 tbsp oil
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 2 tomatoes, pureed
- 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
- 2 tsp chole masala
- 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp amchur
- Salt to taste
- 2 cups maida
- 1/4 cup yogurt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- Warm water to knead
- Oil for deep-frying
Steps
- Pressure-cook soaked chickpeas with the tea bags (in a muslin pouch), bay leaves, cardamoms, cinnamon, and salt for 25 minutes. The tea is what gives chole its dark colour — discard the bags.
- Heat oil and saute onions until deep brown.
- Add ginger-garlic paste, then tomato puree, and cook until oil separates.
- Stir in chole masala, Kashmiri chilli, cumin, and amchur. Cook 1 minute.
- Add chickpeas with their cooking liquid and simmer for 15 minutes, mashing some chickpeas against the side to thicken the gravy.
- For the bhature, knead maida with yogurt, sugar, baking soda, and warm water into a soft elastic dough. Rest covered for at least 30 minutes (longer is better).
- Divide into 8 balls and roll each into an oval, about 6 inches long.
- Slip one at a time into hot oil. Press gently with the back of a slotted spoon — it should puff up immediately. Flip once and drain.
- Serve the chole hot, topped with sliced onion, green chilli, and a wedge of lime, with hot bhature on the side.