Dilli waale Chole Bhature

Chole - a spicy chickpea curry serve with condiments and bhature -a type of fried bread made with plain flour A taste from the streets of Delhi !

Serves 3-4 people

Ingredients:

Chole (chick peas)-

1 ½ cups Chick peas

Make a potli (muslin bag) with the following ingredients

· 4 Cloves

· 1 cinnamom stick

· pepper corns

· 4 green cardamoms

· 1 bay leaf

· 3 black cardamom

· 5 dried amla (dried gooseberry)

· 1 tbsp tea leaves

5 tbsp oil

1 tsp ajwain (carom seeds)

½ tbsp chopped ginger

½ tbsp chopped garlic

1 cup onions (chopped)

1 cup fresh Tomato (grind)

½ tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp red chilli powder (adjust according to preference)

1 tbsp coriander powder

½ tbsp cumin powder

Salt to taste

½ tbsp Amchoor (dried mango powder)

¼ tsp Kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)

Bhature (fluffy bread)-

2 cups plain flour

2 tbsp semolina (helps the bread to keep fluffy and crispy)

2 tbsp oil

A pinch of salt

¼ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp baking powder

2 tsp sugar (gives a golden colour to bhature)

2 tbsp yoghurt

Water as required

Oil for frying

Method:

Chole (chick peas)-

Soak chick peas for 3-4 hours. Boil them in a pressure cooker with a tsp of salt, 1 tsp baking soda and the prepared potli (muslin bag) for approximately 35-40 minutes. If using a pot for boiling chick peas it will take much longer to soften the chick peas. When boiled, use a sieve to separate the water from chick peas. Keep the water and boiled chick peas aside. Chick peas will have a dark brown colour because of the potli added. You can get rid of the potli now.

Bhature (fluffy bread)-

Mix all the ingredients mentioned for bhature. Use water to make a soft flexible dough. Let it rest for at least 2 hours.

Chole (chick peas)-

In a deep round pan (karahi) heat oil and add ajwain. Saute chopped ginger, garlic and onions until light brown. Add turmeric, red chilli powder and coriander powder. Saute for just a minute and add tomato puree.

Fry for few minutes, add salt, kasuri methi and amchoor. Fry the masala for couple of minutes until becomes a thick paste.

Now add chick peas and fry for few minutes. Keep stirring. Some chick peas will get mashed, that’s what we want!

This will help blend in all the flavours in the chick peas. After frying for about 6-8 minutes, add the water kept aside from the boiled chick peas. Simmer for another good 10-15 minutes.

Taste the seasoning and adjust if needed. You can always adjust the quantity of water to get the required consistency.

Bhature (fluffy bread)-

Make small portions and roll each portion separately. Heat oil in a karahi (deep round pan) and fry them on medium high flame. Its very important to maintain the heat while frying as they will not rise if the flame is low or get burnt if it’s too high. The video below shows how to fry the bhature.

Serve chole bhature with chopped onion and mixed pickle ( available in Asian supermarkets)