Punjabi Chola
March 10th, 2008 filed under Dal (Lentils), Vegan
Punjabi cholas are the best compliment with baturas. The combination is known as chola battura. This is a mouth-watering dish.
Serves 2 to 4.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup chickpeas (Garbanzo beans, Kabuli chana)
- 2 tea bags
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
- 1 tablespoon basen (Gram flour)
- 2 medium tomatoes
- 1 green chili
- 1 tablespoon shredded ginger
- 1 tablespoon coriander powder (dhania)
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt, adjust to the taste
- 1/2 teaspoon black salt
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon amchoor (Mango powder)
For garnish:
- 1 tablespoon shredded ginger
- 1 green chili sliced long ways
Method:
- Boil 5 cups of water with tea bags; after tea comes to boil turn down the heat to medium low.
- Let it boil for another 2 to 3 minutes. Take out the tea bags and keep aside.
- Wash chickpeas well and soak in tea water for about 8 hours. Chickpeas after soaking will become about 2 1/2 times the volume of the original.
- In pressure cooker add chickpeas with the water they were soaked in, plus 2 more cups of water. Close the cooker and put the pressure on.
- Cook on medium high heat.
- As pressure cooker starts steaming turn the heat down to medium and cook for about 15 minutes.
- Close the heat and wait until steam has stopped before opening the pressure cooker. Chickpeas should be soft and tender.
- Blend the tomatoes, ginger and green chili to make paste.
- Heat the oil in a saucepan. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the oil; if it cracks right away oil is ready. Add cumin seeds, and as the cumin seeds crack add basen stir-fry until basen is light gold brown.
- Next add tomato paste, coriander powder, and black pepper. Stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes until the oil is separating from the mixture and tomato mixture should be about half in volume.
- Add spice mix, salt, garam masala, and mango powder to chickpeas.
- While mixing, lightly mash the chickpeas. Adjust salt, pepper, and sourness to your taste.
- Cook on medium high heat. After cholas come to boil lower the heat to medium low and put the lid on.
- Cholas are ready to eat in as little as ten minutes, but for best taste let simmer for 30 minutes, stirring every 5 or 6 minutes.
- Garnish cholas with shredded ginger and sliced green chili.


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Thanks a lot. You made cooking easy.
First of all, thank you for all your recipes…I’ve even been able to impress my mother with your recipes! Do you have a recipe for Sambar and Dosa?
Love you aunty. I feels as if my mother is teaching me to cook. Thanks for your efforts….
i like your receip . because it different
hi
i want punjabi chole receipe . pl send it in my mail…………
thank u .
hi,
can we use this punjabi cholas as a combination with chapathi/paranthas.thanks
Hi Poorni,
You can serve this with any bread.
Hi sujata ,
Adding teabags helps in giving blackish colour to chick peas.
in punjabi chola…why r u using tea bags..does it helps chole to become soft…?
pls do reply
The tea bags make the color dark.