Achari Chole

Achari Chole is an Indian curry where chickpeas are cooked in spicy and tangy curry flavored with pickling spices. Here is how to make these (vegan, gluten-free).

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• About Achari Chole
• Ingredients
• How To Make Achari Chole
• Serving Suggestions
• Storage Suggestions
• You Might Also Like
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About Achari Chole

Achari Chole is a spicy and tangy North Indian curry recipe where chickpeas are cooked with onions, tomatoes, and achari masala (Indian pickling spice mix).

This curry is quite easy to make, delicious, and comes together quickly.

Serve it for weekday meals, and brunches, or pack it for lunch box with poori, paratha, or steamed rice with a side of sliced onions.

This curry is vegan and gluten-free and the recipe can be easily doubled or tripled.

Here are some more chole recipes that you may like

• Chole
• Palak Chole
• Amritsari Chole
• Chana Madra
• Chana Masala

Ingredients

For Achari Masala

Achari Masala is nothing but a mix of spices used to make Indian-style pickles.

I like to make my own pickle masala at home as it tastes the best. To make it, you will need brown mustard seeds, whole coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds (saunf), fenugreek seeds (methi dana), nigella seeds (kalonji), carom seeds (ajwain), and, dry red chilies.

You can check out my detailed Achari Masala recipe here.

If you are short on time, you can even use store-bought masala.

For The Curry

To make the achari chole curry, you will need mustard oil, dry chickpeas (chole), onions, ginger garlic paste, fresh tomatoes, spice powders like cumin powder, dry mango powder (amchoor), Kashmiri red chili powder, salt, and cilantro (fresh coriander leaves).

I will recommend using mustard oil for this recipe, as it adds a pungent taste that compliments the other flavors of the curry really well. If it’s not available, then use vegetable oil in its place.

For that extra pickle flavor, add a little masala from the ready pickle in the curry. It is optional but adds a great flavor. I prefer to use masala from mango pickle but you can use masala from any pickle that you have handy at home.

How To Make Achari Chole

Cook The Chickpeas

Wash 1 cup dry chickpeas and soak them in 3-4 cups of water for 6-8 hours.

Drain the water and rinse the chickpeas with fresh water once again.

Add the chickpeas to a pressure cooker with 3 cups of water and 2 teaspoon salt.

Pressure cook for 1 whistle on high heat. Then reduce the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes.

Remove the cooker from the heat and let the pressure release naturally.

Open the lid of the cooker and set it aside.

Note – You can also cook the soaked chickpeas in an instant pot. Add them to an instant pot with water and salt. Press PRESSURE COOK and set the timer to 15 minutes.

Once the timer goes off, do a 10-minute NPR followed by QPR. Open the lid and set aside.

Make Achari Masala

Add

• 1 tsp brown mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp whole coriander seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• ½ tsp fenugreek seeds
• ½ tsp nigella seeds
• ½ tsp carom seeds
• 2-3 whole red chilies

to a pan and dry roast over medium heat until slightly browned and fragrant. Stir frequently while roasting.

Remove the pan from the heat and let the ingredients cool down for 10 minutes.

Add the ingredients to a grinder and grind to make a coarse powder.

Make The Curry

Heat 4 tablespoon mustard oil in a pan over medium-high heat.

When the oil is hot, add 2 cups of chopped onions and cook till the onions are pink in color (5-6 minutes), stirring frequently.

Add 2 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste and cook until the onions are golden brown in color (5-6 minutes).

Add 1 cup chopped tomatoes and cook for a minute.

Add

• achari masala
• ½ teaspoon roasted cumin powder
• 2 teaspoon dry mango powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder

Fry the masala for about 2 minutes, till oil starts to come on the sides of the pan.

Add a little water if required.

Add the cooked chickpeas along with the water in which they were cooked to the pan.

Add 1 cup of water and mix well.

Reduce the heat to low.

Cover the pan with a lid and cook for 10-15 minutes.

Add 1 tablespoon masala from the pickle and cook for another minute.

Check for salt and add more if needed.

Garnish with 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro and serve hot.

Serving Suggestions

Achari Chole can be served with phulka, tawa paratha, naan, garlic naan, kulcha, poori, or lachha paratha.

It also tastes great with simple steamed rice, jeera rice, matar pulao, or any other lightly spiced pulao.

Storage Suggestions

Achari Chole will easily last for about 3-4 days when stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Reheat in a pan or microwave until nice and warm before serving.

You can also adjust the consistency by adding hot water if the curry becomes thick after refrigeration.

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