Chole- Spicy chick pea curry for deep fried bhatura bread

Chole- Spicy chick pea curry for deep fried bhatura bread

This curry is the spicy accompaniment for bhatura. This is the first time we tried making this completely from scratch- even the chana masala powder and it came out extremely well!

 We need to start a day before if using dried chick peas. We soak it overnight, drain it, pressure cook and drain it once again. Discarding the soaking and cooking water prevents flatulence some people associate with chick peas or other pulses like the red kidney beans or rajma. 

We used to dry fry all whole spices before attempting to grind. Then, I forgot to do the frying many times and could not make out any difference- may be because of the dry climate we have. Anyways, since then, we just powder spices without frying. So, combine garam masala spices and powder in a coffee grinder.

Ginger garlic paste is good staple to have. If you don’t, then just finely chop up some garlic and ginger. Peel and chop onion and tomato. Heat oil in a pan or wok and sauté the onion till lightly browned. Add all the spice powders and fry over very low heat for a minute or two. Add the ginger garlic paste and continue to sauté. When the masala starts giving off a nice aroma, add in the tomatoes and stir till tomatoes break up completely. Add 2 cups of water and salt. When water boils, add the chickpeas. Bring the mixture back to boil and simmer for about 10 minutes. Adjust seasoning if required. Serve with chopped onion, chillies, coriander leaves and lemon wedges on the side.

Variation: Boil peel and dice 2 medium potatoes and add to the gravy along with chick peas to make aaloo- chole!!!