Chhole (My friend Meeta's Recipe)

Chhole and bhature/ kulcha is a die to for combination. The hot spicy chhole with a tinge or amchur and lemon juice drizzled on top, is something that we all enjoy a lot.

I have made chhole a lot of times, but always there was something a miss in mine. Later this recipe happened to me.

My friend Meeta, a caterer by profession and a wonderful dedicated mother and wife. I met her in a foodies meet of a foodie group that I belong to on Facebook. 

She had made this chhole and had got it for a potluck lunch on one of our friend's birthday. There we all fell for it. The color was just like how the Punjabi Dhabas would serve and the flavour was so so amazing. 

She is such a nice person that immediately she shared her recipe with all of us and I made it....

THIS POST IS DEDICATED TO MEETA.... Thanks a lot!!!

Let's get on to the recipe...

Serves: 2

What would you need:

To cook Channa:

1. Kabuli Channa - 1 1/4 cup
2. Ajwain - 1/4 tsp
3. Black Cardamom - 1
4. Tea Bags - 2 (you can also use Teas Powder - 1 1/4 tsp) 

Masala Paste:

1. Tomato - 1 (cubed)
2. Cloves - 2
3. Green Cardamom - 2
4. Cinnamon - 1' stick
5. Jeera - 1/2 tsp
6. Peppercorns - 1/4 tsp

Other Ingredients:

1. Onions - 2 medium (finely chopped)
2. Oil - 1 1/2tbsp
3. Jeera - 1/4 tsp
4. Salt - to taste
5. Red Chilli Powder - as needed
6. Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp
7. Water - 1/2 cup (to adjust consistency)
8. Amchur Powder - 1 tsp
9. Coriander Leaves - to garnish

How to go about it:

1. Soak the channa overnight. Drain the water and pressure cook along with ajwain, black cardamom & tea, until soft to bite and not mushy. Once cooked drain the channa and keep aside.
2. Heat a pan and dry roast all the ingredients mentioned under the heading "Masala Paste" except Tomato until they are aromatic. Cool it completely and grind the spiced and tomato to a fine paste and keep aside.
3. Add oil to a pan and once hot, add the onions and saute for 5 minutes under high heat. 
4. Reduce the heat to medium and add the ginger garlic paste and fry until the raw smell is off. Also fry the onions until they start to brown from the sides.
5. Now add the masala paste, red chilli powder and saute until oil separates from the gravy.
6. Add amchur powder, salt and the boiled channa and mix. Adjust the required consistency accordingly.
7. Cook this mixture for about 20 minutes on a low flame. This helps everything come together, at the same time lets the channa take in the masala. 
8. Serve hot with rotis/ phulkas/ kulchas/ bhature or just rice!!

Njoy with your luved ones..

Luv..

Champa