Amritsari Chole (Punjabi Chole Masala)
A Punjabi Amritsari classic — kabuli chana slow-cooked with tea-bag-darkened gravy of onion, tomato, ginger, ghee, anardana, amchur and warming whole spices. Tangy-dark colour signature of Amritsar dhabas. Pairs with bhature, kulcha or jeera rice.
Ingredients
Main
- Anardana Powder (Dried Pomegranate - Tangy Grade) — 1 tbsp (ground)
- Ginger — 2 piece (chopped)
- tea bags — 1 piece (whole)
- Black Cardamom — 1 g (ground)
- Coriander Leaves (optional) (ground)
- Amchur (Whole Dried Green Mango Slices) — 1 tbsp (whole)
- methi seeds — 0.25 tsp (whole)
- Ghee — 3 tbsp (whole)
- Coriander Seeds — 2 tbsp (whole)
- Cumin Seeds — 1 tbsp (whole)
- salt (optional) (whole)
- Black Salt (Artisanal Kiln-Fired Rock) — 1 tsp (whole)
- Tomato — 1 piece (chopped)
- green chillies — 1 piece (chopped)
- cinnamon stick — 1 piece (ground)
- Kabuli Chana (Jumbo Grade) — 1 cup (soaked)
- Turmeric Powder — 0.5 tsp (ground)
- onion — 1 piece (chopped)
- black pepper — 1 tsp (whole)
Tempering
- dry red chillies — 5 piece (whole)
Method
- To begin with, the Amritsari Chole Recipe, first prep all the ingredients and keep them ready.
- Ensure the Kabuli Chana/ Chickpeas was soaked for 8 hours or overnight in water.
- Add the soaked chana into the pressure cooker, add a teaspoon of salt and the tea bag.
- Ensure the water level is at least 2 inches above the level. of chana.Note: The addition of tea bag while cooking the chana, help give the Amritsari chole a lovely deep colour.
- If you don't have tea bags, then you can make a small potli and add dark tea leaves into it and tiet it with a cotton thread and add it to the pressure cookerPressure cook the chickpeas/ kabuli chana for about 35 to 40 minutes on medium heat.
- There will be multiple rounds of whistles from the pressure cooker.
- After the first 15 minutes, turn the heat to low and continue pressure cook for the remaining time.Turn off the heat and allow the pressure to release naturally.
- In the meanwhile,we will make the Amritsari Chole Masala Powder.
- Roast all of them on medium high heat for about 5 minutes until you get a roasted aroma and the spices start getting a roasted colour.
- Ensure you keep stirring it while they are getting roasted - so they get roasted eventy from all sides.Once done, turn off the heat and allow it to cool a bit.
- Once cooled, add the roasted chole masala spices into a small jar of the mixer grinder and blend to make smooth powder.Keep the Amritsari chole masala powder aside.Final step is to bring all the masala together.
- Once the tomatoes are soft.
- Add the cooked kabuli chana/ chickpeas into the chole masala.
- Stir well to combine.Cover the pan and simmer the Amritsari Chole Masala for a good 15 minutes.After 15 minutes of simmering, keep the pan uncovered and cook it open until the Amritsari chole masala has a thick gravy consistency.
- Mash a few chana a little to make it a thick gravy if required.
- Check the salt at this stage and add more if required.
- Once done, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of ghee and give it a brisk boil for a minute and turn off the heat.
- Finally garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.Serve the Amritsari Chole along with Bhatura, Puri, or Kulcha and pair it along with lacha pyaz, boondi raita and some green chillies by the side for a special weekend lunch.
Common questions
- How many calories in one plate of Amritsari Chole (Punjabi Chole Masala)?
- 369 kcal per plate.
- How much cooking time?
- 75 min — 30 min prep, 45 min cooking.