If you love Indian food you would definitely love the ubiquitous black cholas available at some of the famous chola bhaturas outlets in Delhi. The prefect dark brown – black colour with the perfect blend of spices and made without any onion, garlic and tomatoes. For years I have been experimenting with various recipes gathered from everywhere trying to replicate the oh so delicious melt in the mouth cholas, but came nothing close to it. Though I did manage to get a somewhat dark brown colour but somehow the taste always eluded me.
A year back when my mausi was over from the USA and I wanted to have cholas she volunteered to make them, claiming she makes a good one. When I put them in my mouth I just fell in love with them.I made a few changes or additions to the recipe to get my perfect recipes of cholas and here I am with it. Trust me it’s the simplest form you can make and your guests- well they would be blown away by the taste.
Wash and Soak 150 grams of cholas/chickpeas in water for 7-8 hours.
Drain the cholas/chickpeas and cook them in pressure cooker for 35 minutes by clock along with:
+ 500 ml water
+ 4 tea bags
+ 1 teaspoon salt
Boiled chola is ready for making it into a gravy.
Heat 3 tablespoon oil in a pan, when hot add:
+ 1 teaspoon cumin seeds ( let it splutter/ change colour)
then add:
+ 1 teaspoon dry anardana powder
Cook for 45 seconds and add the boiled cholas/chickpeas.
Add:
+ 4 teaspoon chola masala
+ 1/2 teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder
+ 2 tablespoon tamarind water
(soak 15 grams of tamarind in warm water for 30 minutes, press to release all juices and sieve it to get the tamarind paste)
+ 1 teaspoon salt
Do a taste test and adjust seasoning if required.
Combine 2 tablespoon besan with 4 tablespoon water in a bowl.
Add this to the cholas and mix well, soo for 1-2 minutes.
(Besan helps bring everything together and thicken the gravy)
Once reached the desired consistency switch off the flame.
Just before serving heat 2 tablespoons ghee in a pan, when hot add:
+ 1 teaspoon coriander powder
+ 2 tablespoon juliennes of ginger
+ 3 slit green chillies
Let this cook for 1 minute, them pour this over the cholas.
Wash, peel and cut raw potatoes in big cubes.
Deep fry them in hot oil or air fry after coating them with 2-3 tbsp of oil.
They should be a golden brown colour.
Garnish the cholas with these deep fried potatoes and julienne ginger or you could even mix them in the cholas.
Yummy punjabi cholas are ready.
You can serve them with bhaturas, pooris or tandoori kulchas .
Ingredients
Directions
Wash and Soak 150 grams of cholas/chickpeas in water for 7-8 hours.
Drain the cholas/chickpeas and cook them in pressure cooker for 35 minutes by clock along with:
+ 500 ml water
+ 4 tea bags
+ 1 teaspoon salt
Boiled chola is ready for making it into a gravy.
Heat 3 tablespoon oil in a pan, when hot add:
+ 1 teaspoon cumin seeds ( let it splutter/ change colour)
then add:
+ 1 teaspoon dry anardana powder
Cook for 45 seconds and add the boiled cholas/chickpeas.
Add:
+ 4 teaspoon chola masala
+ 1/2 teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder
+ 2 tablespoon tamarind water
(soak 15 grams of tamarind in warm water for 30 minutes, press to release all juices and sieve it to get the tamarind paste)
+ 1 teaspoon salt
Do a taste test and adjust seasoning if required.
Combine 2 tablespoon besan with 4 tablespoon water in a bowl.
Add this to the cholas and mix well, soo for 1-2 minutes.
(Besan helps bring everything together and thicken the gravy)
Once reached the desired consistency switch off the flame.
Just before serving heat 2 tablespoons ghee in a pan, when hot add:
+ 1 teaspoon coriander powder
+ 2 tablespoon juliennes of ginger
+ 3 slit green chillies
Let this cook for 1 minute, them pour this over the cholas.
Wash, peel and cut raw potatoes in big cubes.
Deep fry them in hot oil or air fry after coating them with 2-3 tbsp of oil.
They should be a golden brown colour.
Garnish the cholas with these deep fried potatoes and julienne ginger or you could even mix them in the cholas.
Yummy punjabi cholas are ready.
You can serve them with bhaturas, pooris or tandoori kulchas .