By sebastian
Chole Bhature
Take the humblest of ingredients: chickpeas, potatoes and, perhaps surprisingly, tea. Add spices, love and care, and you have chole - a simple and delicious vegetarian curry. It is best served with puffy bhature and raita, but plain boiled rice can replace the bread. It is also eaten for breakfast with puri (page 363).
The tea gives this dish a little welcome bitterness, from the tannins. You'll need to prepare the chickpeas at least 8 hours in advance in order to create a good, strong flavour. The trick is not to over-simmer the chickpeas or potato, otherwise they will release too much starch and thicken the sauce.
Updated at: Thu, 17 Aug 2023 03:00:00 GMT
Nutrition balance score
Uh-oh! We're unable to calculate nutrition for this recipe because some ingredients aren't recognized.
Ingredients
2 servings
Instructions
Step 1
1. Tip the chickpeas and their liguid into a smal saucepan
Step 2
and add an extra tinful of water. Place over a medium heat, add the teabags (don't let them burst and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for 5 minutes, then take of the heat. Cover and leave to stand for 8-24 hours.
Step 3
2. Simmer the potato in a small pan of salted water until just tender. Drain and leave to cool.
Step 4
3. Put the tomato purée, chana masala, cumin and salt into a small bowl and mix nicely; set aside. Using a pestle and mortar, give the cardamom pod a single, firm bash.
Step 5
4. Warm a large saucepan over a medium-high heat and add the oil. Add the bay leaf, crushed cardamom pod and cinnamon stick to the pan and let them crackle for I minute, stirring often (be careful, it may spit a little).
Step 6
5. Add the tomato purée mix, stir well for 1 minute, then turn the heat to low and add the onion-tomato masala Sauté, stirring often, until you see the oil start to leave a paste around the edges, about 5-7 minutes.
Step 7
6. Drain the chickpeas, reserving the cooking liquor;
Step 8
discard the teabags. Add the chickpeas to the saucepan along with 150ml of the liquor. Bring to a gentle simmer and add the garam masala, tamarind paste and lime juice. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring regularly.
Step 9
7. Dice the potato (into chickpea-sized pieces) and add to the pan. Stir gently, put the lid on and turn off the heat.
Step 10
Set aside to let the potato warm through
Step 11
8. For the fried chillies, warm the oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the chillies and salt, and sauté for 2-3 minutes until soft and lightly charred.
Step 12
9. Serve the chole in a deep bowl, topped with red onion, coriander and ginger, with the fried chillies, lime wedges and raita on the side, and bhature to scoop everything up.
Notes
1 liked
0 disliked
There are no notes yet. Be the first to share your experience!