Amritsari Chhole

Previously I have posted a recipe of ‘Chhole Masala’ but making of this one is slightly different than the earlier one. Made chhole using that recipe number of times before, but whenever I visited Havmor Restaurant back in India, I always wondered what special masala they use to make chhole so flavorful n finger-licking good??!!!

Even though we gulp so many bhaturas served with a bowl of chhole, I always missed those flavors. It’s nothing but a combination of ‘Chhole’ n fried puffed Indian bread ‘Bhatura’ and yes, it’s a very popular North-Indian dish. In fact, I still can’t believe that Punjabis are used to have these combo in their breakfast/brunch :D

While watching some street-food video on youtube, I found this ‘Amritsari Chhole’ served at some dhaaba but they were making it quite similar to Pindi Chana ! And right on the next day, planned to make it! This time when I cooked my ‘Amritsari Chhole’ their way, my kitchen was filled up with amazing aroma in the air. It was hard for me to resist myself from tasting a spoonful before taking a few pics!

We’re not used to have lunch usually, but last sunday was exception :P Two of us finished a big bowl of chhole n 7-8 bhaturas in one shot :D Try out this way of making ‘Amritsari Chhole’…

Serves: 2-3

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup chickpeas
2″ Cinnamon Stick
3-4 Cloves
2 Black Cardamom
1 chopped onion
1 chopped tomato
1 tsp Amchur Powder
2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
2 tsp chana masala
½ tsp Garam Masala
1/4 tsp red chilly powder
1/4 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
Pinch of hing
Salt per taste
2 tbsp ghee

STEPS TO FOLLOW:

1. Soak chickpeas overnight in warm water and pressure-cook it with 1/2 tsp salt, cinnamon stick, cardamom, cloves and enough water.
2. Drain excess water from it, remove whole garam masala and keep it aside.
3. Take ghee in deep kadai and once heated, add cumin seeds.
4. Once it crackles, add hing and chopped onions along with ginger-garlic paste. Saute it for a min or 2.
5. Add chopped tomato with rest of all seasonings. Mix it well and cook it till tomatoes turn into puree texture. Seasonings will leave the finest aroma by then.
6. Add boiled chickpeas with water and cook it open for around 10 mins.
7. Garnish with Onion juliennes soaked in lemon juice & serve hot with Bhatura.

SJ’s NOTE:

• To get exact texture of chhole, add a tea-bag while pressure-cooking soaked chickpeas. I don’t much like it so eliminated it :)
• You can add finely chopped green chillies too as per your taste!