Chole Bhatura – The taste of Punjab

Chole Bhatura

Chole Bhatura/Bhature, a popular meal originating from Punjab. It consists of spicy cooked chickpeas, eaten along with a puffed, deep fried bread, Bhatura. 

Punjab known for its earthy and rich meals hits a bull’s eye when it comes to the flavor of chole. It is a spicy blend of chickpeas and spices cooked together. When it comes to Bhatura, it is a bit tricky to get it right, as it has to be fermented correctly before frying.

For that matter, I’ll help you out in making this astonishing dish. So, let’s start with this.

To prepare Chole Bhatura you will require:

For Chole

1. 250 gms Kabuli Chana
2. 2 nos Tea bags (for color)
3. 2 cinnamon sticks (Dalchini)
4. 2 nos Tej Patta
5. 2-3 nos Chotti Elaichi
6. 2-3 nos Laung (Clove)
7. 1/2  tsp jeera powder
8. 50 gms of grounded onion
9. 25 gms of ginger garlic paste
10. 1 tsp of finely chopped green chilies
11. 75 gms of tomato paste
12. 1 tbsp chana masala
13. 1 tbsp Lal Mirch powder
14. 1 tbsp jeera powder
15. 1/2 tbsp Haldi/ Turmeric powder
16. 1/2 tbsp garam masala
17. 1/2 tbsp amchur powder
18. 1/2 tbsp Dhaniya / Coriander powder
19. Oil/Ghee to cook
20. Salt to taste

For Bhatura

1. 200 gms of maida
2. 2 tbsp of curd
3. 1 tsp of baking soda
4. salt to taste
5. oil for deep frying

To Serve Chole Bhatura

• Fine slices of an Onion
• 1/2 Ginger cut into fine jullienes
• 3-4 lemon wedges
• 1-2 whole green chilies split into two
• 1 tbsp chopped Dhaniya/ Coriander leaves

So, Let’s go:

For Chole:

1. Drain and wash chickpeas soaked overnight for at least 8-9 hours.
2. Cook the chickpeas in required water along with a little salt and the teabags tied in a muslin cloth to give it the traditional dark colour.
3. Once the chick peas are cooked start with its tempering.
4. Heat oil in a pan. Once hot add the whole garam masalas mentioned above.
5. Now add the whole jeera seeds first. As the seeds start to crackle add the onion paste to it.
6. as the paste starts to get transparent in its look, add the ginger garlic paste to it and cook till its golden brown.
7. Now add the green chillies paste to it and continue cooking.
8. Add the tomato paste to it now and cook till the oil separates.
9. Add the masalas to it now and cook for another minute or so.
10. Add the cooked chickpeas to the masala prepared and water as per you wish to keep the consistency from loosely thick to thick. But make sure it should not be watery.
11.  Your chole is ready. Now proceed to the Bhaturas.

For Bhatura

1. Combine all the ingredients for the bhatura.
2. Knead the ingredients very well into a smooth dough using a little water if required.
3. Once the dough is ready, cover it with a wet muslin cloth and wait for it to rise a little.
4. Now divide the dough into small balls using lightly oiled hands as the fermented dough might stick to hands.
5. Roll the balls using a rolling pin or by pressing it uniformly using your oiled palm on a lightly oiled surface.
6. Deep fry the bhaturas is hot oil by pressing it from the centre to allow it to puff up and splashing oil on both sides to cook properly. Make sure that the oil is hot enough as, if the oil will be cold the bhaturas will suck up the oil and won’t puff up and if it will be too hot the bhaturas will burn.

To Serve

• Serve the bhatura with chole garnished with sliced onion, jullienes of ginger, lemon wedges and split green chillies on top and enjoy this lip smacking punjabi feast.