Punjabi Style Amritsari Chole Masala
Punjabi Style Amritsari Chole Masala is one of the ace delicacies of Punjabi Cuisine where chickpeas is prepared in a spicy concoction of freshly ground spices, provides authenticity in flavour, colour, texture and aroma.
Servings: 4 to 6
Ingredients
- To boil Chickpeas:
- 1 cup Black Chickpeas Kabuli Chana
- ¼ teaspoon Baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 to 2 Tea bags if you don't have tea bag, then take a white cloth and tie some tea into it
- 1½ cups water to boil chickpeas
- For the gravy:
- 1 large Onion ground coarsely in a blender
- 1 to 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 Tablespoon Ginger garlic paste
- 3 to 4 Tomato blanch, remove skin and puree
- 2 Green chillies finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon Red chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon Coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon Cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon Chole masala Use any brand
- ½ teaspoon Garam masala powder
- 1 to 2 teaspoon Amchur powder dry mango powder
- Required salt to taste
- 3 Tablespoons finely chopped Coriander leaves divided
- Dry seasoning:
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- 3 cloves
- 1 black cardamom
- 1 Star anise
- 1 bay leaf
Instructions
- Boiling Chickpeas:
- Soak chickpeas overnight or for at least 6 to 8 hours in water.
- Wash the chickpeas and add water, salt and baking soda.
- Add the tea bags into the pressure cooker. Close the lid of the cooker and let it boil them in a pressure cooker over high heat for one whistle.
- Now simmer the heat and let it cook for about 5 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and wait till the pressure subsides. Transfer the chickpeas to a bowl.
- Save the water left after removing boiled chickpeas to add to the gravy.
- Discard the tea bags.
- For the gravy:
- Heat a pan or a pressure cooker over medium heat and add the onion paste.
- Sauté until the moisture evaporates and then add the oil. This way you use less oil to fry the onion paste.
- To this add the "dry seasonings" and sauté for a minute. (You can also add the dry seasonings to the chickpeas while boiling in the pressure cooker)
- To this add the ginger garlic paste and sauté till the raw smell goes off.
- Add the tomato puree and stir for 2 minutes.
- Add chopped green chillies, red chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, chole masala, garam masala powder, amchur powder, coriander leaves and salt.
- Mix and roast the masala until the oil starts to float at the top of the masala. This may take 2 to 3 minutes. In my case the oil will not float as I have used very little oil.
- Add boiled chick peas, mix well and add 1 cup of water or as desired to get the required consistency.
- Also some of the cooked chickpeas can be mashed into the masala to make it a bit mushy n creamy.
- Close the lid oft he pressure cooker and cook it for 1 whistle over high heat. Turn off the heat.
- Open the cooker when the pressure subsides.
- Garnish with some coriander and serve Punjabi Style Amritsari Chole Masala with Bhatura and some sliced/chopped onions and a lemon wedge.
Notes
1. Adjust spice levels to suit your taste.
2. Adjust gravy to your desired consistency with water and cook.
3. If you do not like to use tea bags, you could skip but you will not get the dark colour to the gravy.
4. Baking soda is not strictly necessary, but it can be beneficial. The molecules in baking soda attach themselves to gas-inducing sugars in the chickpeas known as oligosaccharides. By binding to these sugars, baking soda can break them down and partially remove that gut felt odorous, gas producer from the structure of the chickpea.
5. You can also boil chickpeas in a sauce pan but it takes much longer. so pressure cooking chickpeas saves time and energy.
2. Adjust gravy to your desired consistency with water and cook.
3. If you do not like to use tea bags, you could skip but you will not get the dark colour to the gravy.
4. Baking soda is not strictly necessary, but it can be beneficial. The molecules in baking soda attach themselves to gas-inducing sugars in the chickpeas known as oligosaccharides. By binding to these sugars, baking soda can break them down and partially remove that gut felt odorous, gas producer from the structure of the chickpea.
5. You can also boil chickpeas in a sauce pan but it takes much longer. so pressure cooking chickpeas saves time and energy.