Amritsari Chole
The dark, deeply spiced chickpea curry of Amritsari Sikh kitchens - chickpeas cooked till nearly bursting, then simmered in a slow-cooked onion-tomato-ginger masala with the signature Amritsari touch: dried pomegranate seeds (anardana) and tea leaves (cha patti) in the stock for the deep mahogany colour and sour-sweet finish. Eaten with kulcha or bhature.
Ingredients
Garnish
- Coriander Leaves — 8 g
- coriander powder — 8 g
- Chickpeas — 250 g (soaked-overnight)
- Garlic — 20 g (pasted)
- black pepper — 5 g
- dry kashmiri chillies — 5 g
- Turmeric — 3 g
- bay leaf — 1 g
- tea leaves (optional) — 4 g
- ginger paste — 25 g
- Green Cardamom — 3 g
- Cumin Seeds — 4 g
- tomato ripe — 250 g (pureed)
- Mustard Oil — 50 g
- cumin powder — 6 g
- salt — 9 g
- cinnamon stick — 2 g
- green chillies — 15 g
- onion — 200 g (finely-chopped)
- Anardana (optional) — 8 g
- amchur powder — 6 g
Method
- Soak 250 g chickpeas overnight (8+ hours) in ample water with a pinch of soda. Drain.
- Tie 4 g tea leaves and 8 g anardana in a muslin square. Pressure-cook chickpeas with 750 ml water, the muslin bag, salt, cinnamon, bay leaf, cardamom for 6 whistles + 15 minutes simmer. Chickpeas should be soft enough to smash between fingers.
- Remove and discard the muslin bag. Reserve the dark cooking liquid.
- Heat 50 g mustard oil in a heavy pan till smoking; cool slightly. Splutter cumin seeds and peppercorns.
- Add chopped onions; fry on medium-high for 8 minutes till deep golden brown - this colour matters for the final dish.
- Add ginger-garlic paste; sauté 1 min. Add tomato puree, kashmiri chilli, turmeric, cumin powder, coriander powder. Cook on low for 12 minutes till oil separates and the masala turns deep mahogany.
- Add the cooked chickpeas WITH their dark cooking liquid. Mash some chana lightly to thicken the gravy. Simmer 10 min on low. Add amchur powder.
- Add slit green chillies. Switch off, garnish with coriander, julienned ginger and lemon wedges. Serve with kulcha.
Common questions
- How many calories in one plate of Amritsari Chole?
- 434 kcal per plate.
- How much cooking time?
- 80 min — 30 min prep, 50 min cooking.