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Chole
Chole is a curried vegetable dish made with chickpeas as a main ingredient. Chickpea is a type of legume, which has mild and indistinct taste that needs to be blended with herbs and spices to bring up the flavors. In this Chole recipe, boiled chickpeas are cooked with mildly spicy curry mainly made with onions, tomatoes, and spices like turmeric, coriander, cumin, chili, and garam masala.

Chole is served with Indian bread such Bhature and Poori, Aloo Tikki (Indian version of Potato Patty), or fried or steamed basmati rice.

Happy Cooking!
Ingredients
Serves 4 to 6
Chickpeas
2 cups (8 oz cup), dried
Red Tomato
1 medium, chopped
Turmeric Powder
1 teaspoon
Cumin Powder
1 teaspoon
Red Chili Powder
1 teaspoon or according to taste
Thai Chili
2, partially slit
Cilantro
2 tablespoon, coarsely chopped
Olive Oil
2 tablespoon
Onion
1 large, finely chopped
Ginger-Garlic Paste
1 teaspoon
Coriander Powder
3 teaspoons
Garam Masala Powder
1 teaspoon
Black Pepper
A generous pinch
Chaat Masala
1 teaspoon
Salt
2 and 1/2 teaspoon or according to taste
Water
10 Cups (8 oz cup)
Method
Step 1
Rinse and soak the dried chickpeas in a large bowl in 6 cups of water for about 10 hours. The chickpeas expand to about double their size.
Step 2
Once the chickpeas are soaked, drain the water and boil them in a pressure cooker.

To boil chickpeas in a pressure cooker:
  • Put the chickpeas in a pressure cooker pan and add 4 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of salt.

  • Let the ingredients boil on a high heat until 1 whistle

  • Bring the heat to low and cook for another 3-5 minutes.

  • Remove the cooker from stove, and let the pressure inside the cooker release by itself before opening the lid.
After boiling, pour the chickpeas with water in a bowl for later use.

Note: You can also use about 4 cups of canned chickpeas for this recipe, if you want to avoid the steps of soaking and boiling. However, the taste of the final product may differ slightly.
Step 3
In a pressure pan, heat the olive oil (or another cooking oil of your choice) on a medium-high heat.

Add the chopped onions and fry for a minute until they are translucent. Then add ½ teaspoon of salt. Continue to cook until onions are golden-brown and soft and start to melt in the oil. You may need to cover the pan to cook the onions faster. Stir the onions occasionally. It will take about 10 minutes for the onions to be cooked perfectly.

When the onions are cooked, add 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste and cook for about one minute.
Step 4
Add the chopped tomatoes, mix well, and cook until tomatoes are soft and mushy and mixed thoroughly with the onions.
Step 5
Add the turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, red chili powder, garam masala powder, and green chili (if using). Add about 2 ounces of water and mix the ingredients well.

Cook for about 10 minutes, alternating between medium and medium-high heat every 2 to 3 minutes. Add some more water if needed to prevent the spices from burning or sticking to the pan.
Step 6
Add the boiled chickpeas (without water, save the water for next step), chopped cilantro and chaat masala (if using) to add extra flavor to the dish.

Continue to fry the ingredients for about 2-3 three more minutes.
Step 7
Then add the water that was left over while boiling the chickpeas. Cover the pressure pan and bring to boil on high heat. Then reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for another 5 minutes.

Your delicious Chole is ready to serve. Serve it with your choice of Indian bread or rice.

Share your thoughts and questions!