Punjabi Chole Recipe
Punjabi Chole is a delicious curry made with chickpeas (also known as chole), onions, tomatoes, and a variety of Indian spices. It is one of the most popular curries in North Indian cuisine. Use my easy one-pot recipe to make it in a stovetop pressure cooker or an Instant Pot.
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
To Soak The Chole
- 1 cup dried chole (white chickpeas, garbanzo beans) 7 oz, 200 g
For The Tea Water
- 2 cups water
- 2 teaspoons loose black tea leaves (chai patti) or 2 tea bags
For The Curry
- 2-3 cloves (laung)
- 1 black cardamom (badi elaichi)
- 2-3 green cardamoms (hari elaichi)
- 1 inch piece of cinnamon stick (dalchini)
- 5 tablespoons any neutral-flavored cooking oil or mustard oil, ghee
- 1 cup grated onions
- 2 teaspoons ginger garlic paste
- 1 cup grated fresh tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons chole masala powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon anardana powder (pomegranate seed powder) optional
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons salt or to taste
- 1 tablespoon Kasuri methi
- 1 teaspoon tamarind paste plus more if the curry is not tangy enough for your taste
For The Tempering (Optional)
- 1 tablespoon ghee use oil for vegan recipe
- ½ teaspoon asafetida (hing) skip for gluten free
- 2-3 green chilies slit into half
- 1 teaspoon julienned ginger
Instructions
Soak The Chickpeas
- Wash chickpeas with water and soak them in 3-4 cups of water for 4-5 hours.
- Drain the water and wash them well once more. Drain and keep aside.
Brew The Tea
- Heat water in a pan over medium heat.
- Once the water comes to a boil, add tea leaves and cook for a minute. You can skip this step if you don’t care about the color of the curry.
- Strain the tea using a tea strainer and keep it aside.
Make The Chole Curry
In A Traditional Pressure Cooker
- Lightly crush cloves, black cardamom, green cardamoms, and cinnamon in a mortar and pestle.
- Heat oil in a 3-liter stovetop pressure cooker over medium-high heat.
- Once the oil is hot, add the crushed spices and fry for 4-5 seconds.
- Add onions and cook until they turn slightly brown, stirring frequently (8-10 minutes). Splash a little water if the paste sticks at the bottom of the cooker.
- Add ginger garlic paste and cook for 2 minutes or until the aw smell is gone.
- Now add tomatoes and cook for another minute, stirring frequently.
- Add chole masala powder, coriander powder, chili powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder, and anardana powder, and cook until the oil starts to separate from the sides (1-2 minutes).
- Now add the soaked chole, tea water, baking soda, salt, and 1 cup of plain water to the cooker and stir gently.
- Close the lid of the cooker.
- Pressure cook for 1 whistle on high heat. Then reduce the heat to low and cook for 20 minutes.
- Remove the cooker from heat and let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes.
- Release the remaining pressure manually and open the lid of the cooker.
- Add Kauri methi and tamarind paste and mix well.
- Slightly mash the chole using the back of a ladle for a super creamy texture of the curry.
- Check for salt and add more if needed.
- If the chole are not tangy enough, then add a teaspoon or two of tamarind paste, dry mango powder (amchur powder), or lime juice and mix well.
Temper The Chole Masala (Optional)
- Heat ghee for tempering in a small pan over medium-high heat.
- Once the ghee is hot, add asafetida, green chiles, and ginger juliennes and fry for 10-12 seconds.
- Pour the tempering over the chole and mix well. Serve hot.
Video
Notes
Never use tea bags directly in the cooker, as they might burst.
I like my chole's drier consistency. You can add more water to make the gravy thinner.
The Instant Pot recipe is mentioned in the post.
Nutrition
Calories: 213kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 9mg | Sodium: 270mg | Potassium: 394mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 535IU | Vitamin C: 14.3mg | Calcium: 39mg | Iron: 2.2mg
