Chole bhature

The chole takes its dark colour from amla or tea rather than from spice.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (yoghurt).

Ingredients

• 400 g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
• 4 dried amla, Indian gooseberry, or 2 black tea bags
• 3 onions, chopped fine
• 4 tomatoes, chopped
• 3 tablespoons ginger and garlic paste
• 2 tablespoons chole masala
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon amchur, dried mango powder
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 tablespoons oil
• 400 g maida, plain white flour
• 100 g semolina
• 150 ml plain yoghurt
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1 teaspoon salt, for the dough
• oil for deep frying

Method

1. THE CHOLE TAKES ITS DARK COLOUR FROM AMLA OR TEA RATHER THAN FROM SPICE. Its article names the style and the mechanism in one clause: STYLES OF CHOLE INCLUDE ONE WHOSE DARK COLOR RESULTS FROM INGREDIENTS SUCH AS AMLA OR TEA. That is worth knowing because the usual assumption is that a dark chole has had more chilli or more masala in it, and more of either makes it hotter without making it darker.
2. SO THE AMLA GOES IN WITH THE CHICKPEAS AT THE BOIL. Four dried gooseberries, or two tea bags tied in muslin, in the pot from cold. They come out before anything else happens. An hour with either turns the chickpeas from pale gold to deep brown.
3. SOAK THE CHICKPEAS OVERNIGHT AND BOIL THEM UNTIL THEY CRUSH. Not until they are tender -- until a chickpea flattens under a thumb with no resistance. An undercooked chole is the commonest fault in the dish.
4. KEEP THE COOKING WATER. It is dark, starchy and seasoned, and it is the liquid for the gravy. Pouring it away and using fresh water loses both the colour and the body.
5. COOK THE ONION AND TOMATO RIGHT DOWN BEFORE THE CHICKPEAS GO BACK. Twenty minutes until the oil separates. Then the masala, then the chickpeas and their water, then half an hour at a simmer.
6. CRUSH A LADLEFUL AGAINST THE SIDE OF THE PAN. That is what thickens it. There is no cream, no cashew and no flour in a chole.
7. THE BHATURE DOUGH HAS SEMOLINA AND YOGHURT IN IT, AND IT MUST REST. Maida, semolina, yoghurt, soda and salt, kneaded soft and left two hours under a cloth. The semolina is what makes it crisp at the edge and the yoghurt is what makes it puff.
8. ROLL THEM THICK AND FRY THEM HOT, ONE AT A TIME. Five millimetres, into properly hot oil, held under for two seconds with the back of a spoon so they balloon. Served straight from the pan with the chole, raw onion and a green chilli.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes