amritsari chole recipe with step by step photos – this amritsari chole masala tastes similar to the chole one gets in the punjabi joints on the streets of delhi.
the amritsari chole recipe had been requested my many of you when i had posted the garlic naan recipe. so finally posting the amritsari chole recipe. they taste great with bhatura, butter naan and even with aloo tikki. the first day i just served the chole with garlic naan. the next day, i made aloo tikki to go with the chole. the combo of aloo tiki – chole is very famous in north india.
this is an awesome recipe of amritsari chole and you must give it a try. i have used organic chole/chickpeas for making the chole and they do taste better than the regular ones. if you love chole then you would like to check few more chole recipes from the blog like:
while boiling the chole/chickpeas, if you add some baking soda, it makes the chole melt in the mouth when they get cooked. if possible use a pressure cooker for cooking the chole/chickpeas, as in a pan they take a longer time.
if you are looking for more punjabi recipes then do check:
amritsari chole
INGREDIENTS FOR amritsari chole
for cooking chole (chickpeas)
- 2 cups dried white chickpeas (kabuli chana or chole) soaked overnight in enough water
- 2 inch cinnamon sticks (dalchini)
- 4 to 5 black cardamom (badi elaichi)
- 1 large tej patta or 2 medium tej patta (indian bay leaf)
- 1 teaspoon ginger paste
- 4 teaspoon black tea leaves or 3 tea bags
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda, optional
- salt or black salt as required
for amritsari chole gravy
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 to 4 medium size tomatoes, chopped
- 1 teaspoon chopped ginger (adrak)
- 4 to 5 green chillies, slit or julienned (hari mirch)
- 2 teaspoon cumin powder (jeera)
- 2 teaspoon coriander powder (dhania powder)
- 2 teaspoon fennel powder (saunf), optional
- 2 teaspoon dry mango powder (amchur powder) or 2 teaspoon dried pomegranate powder (anardana powder)
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder (lal mirch powder)
- 2 teaspoon garam masala powder or chana masala powder
- 3 to 4 tablespoon oil
- some julienned ginger
- few coriander leaves (dhania patta)
HOW TO MAKE amritsari chole
cooking chole
- firstly soak the dried chickpeas overnight in water or for 8-9 hours.
- next day pressure cook the soaked chickpeas adding the whole spices mentioned above with black salt or salt and tea bags or tea leaves wrapped tightly in a muslin cloth.
- pressure cook for 8-10 minutes or till the chickpeas are completely cooked.
- strain the chickpeas and reserve the stock along with the whole spices. discard the tea leaves or the tea bags.
making onion tomato masala for amritsari chole
- in a large pan or a large kadai, heat oil. add the chopped onions. fry till golden brown.
- add slit green chilies and fry for a minute.
- add the chopped tomatoes and chopped ginger and saute the tomatoes till they become soft and mushy.
making amritsari chole
- add the cooked chole (chana or chickpeas) and saute for 5-6 minutes.
- add all the spice powders, stir and saute for a minute.
- now add the strained stock about 2.5 to 3 cups to the chole. if the stock is less you can add some water.
- keep the whole mixture on fire and simmer till the curry thickens a bit.
- when the amritsari chole gravy thickens, add some julienned ginger to the gravy.
- check the salt and seasonings and add more if required.
- stir and serve amritsari chole hot garnished with coriander leaves along with some bhatura, naan, pooris or even steamed basmati rice.
RECIPE TIPS
- the spices can be adjusted as per your preferences.
- this recipe can be doubled or tripled.
- you can also use canned chickpeas instead of dried chickpeas.
how to make amritsari chole
cooking chana
1: first pressure cook the soaked chole (chole have to be soaked overnight or for 8-9 hours) with the whole spices and tea bags or black tea leaves tied tightly in a muslin like a bouquet garni, along with some black salt. the chole will get a nice dark color of the tea leaves. they should be completely cooked. strain the chole/chickpeas and reserve the stock.
making onion tomato masala for amritsari chole
2: in a pan, heat oil and add chopped onions.
3: fry the onions till they become golden brown.
4: now add slit green chilies and fry for a minute. yes the chole is spicy.
5: add chopped tomatoes and ginger.
6: saute the tomatoes till they become soft and mushy.
making amritsari chole
7: add the chole and saute for 5-6 minutes.
8: add all the dry masala/spice powders.
9: stir the spice powders and saute for a minute.
10: now add the strained stock to the chole/chickpeas or add the chole to the strained stock. i just removed the chole with a slotted spoon and kept the strained stock in the pressure cooker itself, so added the chole to it.
11: keep the whole mixture on fire and simmer till the gravy thickens a bit. you don’t want a watery chole. adjust the spices and seasonings as per your taste preferences.
12: when the gravy thickens, add some julienned ginger to the chole.
13: stir and serve hot amritsari chole.
14: amritsari chole goes well with pooris, bhatura or naan with some raw chopped onion and lime wedges by the side.
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easy punjabi chole masala recipe, how to make punjabi chole masala 
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Very good
Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge. I made this today, it is lipsmacking. God bless you.
Welcome Sulata. Thanks for your positive feedback and best wishes.
Hello! Thanks for this delicious recipe. I tried exactly as per the recipe given and it came out yumm! Would you please help me how much quantity I should take if I have to make for 20-25 people. Thanks:)
thanks for the feedback. with gravy recipes it become tricky if the recipe is exactly doubled or tripled as the balance of the spices can go wrong. so when making gravy recipes eyeball the ingredients and then add or you can use the method of ‘andaaz’ (approximation) and then add.
made today n came out to be awesome…???L❤ve you Dassana ??
thank you farah. glad to know. happy cooking ?
Instead of tea…dry rose petals is also a good option… !
thanks for sharing the suggestion. even dried amla is used to darken the chickpeas.
Superb recipe. Tried it and liked it very much!! Thanks for the recipe amit.
thanks santosh for this feedback on the recipe. nice to know.
This recipe is great. Thanks Dassana. I prefer a thicker gravy so I added more onion and tomatoes to make the gravy. But everything else is just perfect. I also use organic chole and take longer to cook but the baking soda tip was great. chole cooked fast and melt in mouth consistency. Thanks again Dassana 🙂
Welcome Grace. Thanks for your positive feedback. Glad to know that you liked the chole recipe. Even I have noticed that organic chole takes little long time to cook.
I love your website!!
Tried this recipe and it turned out great, and earned me lovely compliments.. 🙂
Thanks a lot! :))
More power to you
welcome maanvi. glad to know this. thanks for your positive feedback and best wishes.
The recipe is very tasty. Thanks for the recipe!
thanks kirti for the feedback on amritsari chole recipe.
Thank you for this wonderful recipe! The photographs were very helpful too. I made a double batch for a taste of India dinner party, our Indian born hostess said this recipe was like eating at home. My neighbor asked for the recipe and my husband said I could make this anytime! Thanks again for taking the time to share this wonderful dish! ( I had three helpings ).
Welcome Cecilia. Glad to know that everyone liked the recipe. thanks for sharing this awesome feedback on amritsari chole.
hi dassana, i made this chole today and it turned out t nice.. thanks for sharing… actually i wanted to make this for a very long time but did not have tea bags… so what i did is tied some tea powder in a muslin cloth and tied it properly ….ha ha ..
tk care n regards
marina
thats a good trick marina 🙂 thanks for positive feedback.
Man thanku so much….i am biggest fan of all ur recipes ur website tought me how to cook good food …
thanks a lot zahiba.
Made this Chole in this style for the first time, wow is all I can say, they were so tasty and soft, and the gravy was just perfect not top thick and not watery, thank you for this amazing recipe,
Kind regards,
Fan from Birmingham
thanks a lot humera for this feedback. glad to know 🙂
Followed the chole recipe..turned out well. Thanks! It’s just that I dint get that much black in color..I did not use black salt.is that the reason?
the black color is due to the tea bags/tea leaves. so could be due to the type and quality of tea bags or tea leaves. black salt is not responsible for the dark color.
Hi…can I use green tea bags for this recipe?
niveditha green tea bags won’t give the dark color. hope this help’s you.
Brilliant! I made lot of your dishes and i must say, all of them are simple and tasty! Thankyou for your consistent updates. Made Chole today and they as usual turned out to be good.
P.S- I also made the green chillis stuffed with bhuna hua jeera and salt, equally good.
Thanx again
pleased to know this deepti 🙂 thankyou for your kind and positive words. glad you liked the chole and green stuffed chili too. you are always welcome.
Thank you very much. I find your blog the easiest to follow in order to make any dish. My husband also has complimented me on the various dishes I havr tried from your blog. Thank you very much once again.
welcome always shruti 🙂 and pleased to know this. thankyou for your positive words.
Hi Dassana,
I happened to come across your blog a couple of months or so ago and have been trying your recipes with your twist on them, since then. Love your recipes. You explain the step by step process very well with lovely photos, that would help anyone understand how to cook that particular dish without going wrong. Thank you so much for sharing these along with your tips.
I had a question on chole / channa, not specifically on the chole / channa recipe but with regards to the green chilli that is served in some Delhi / Punjabi restaurants. They serve the chole with a lovely fried green chilli on which some masala has been either sprinkled, or the chilli is stuffed with this and then fried. It’s been many years since I last had this, so was wondering if you know what this is called? It doesn’t seem to be a pickle (as the chilli seems pretty fresh though fried), but adds so much flavour to the chole, if one takes an occasional bite of this chilli! Could you share the recipe of this too please – if it’s not already on your blog?
thanks. And keep up the great work!
thanks a lot deepa. the chillies are stuffed with dry mango powder, salt and cumin powder (optional). i don’t know what they are called. there is one variation i make, where i stuff the chilies with cumin powder+salt+lemon juice mixture and pan fry them with a little oil. once they are fried, you can squeeze in some more lemon juice. they really taste good with dal-rice, curd-rice and khichdi. i will try to take pics of the fried chilies next time when i make punjabi chole.
Only soda and tea leaves we have to put in muslin cloth?
baking soda can be added to the chana directly. tea leaves you have to tie in a muslin cloth. you can also tie the whole spices in the same muslin in which tea leaves are there.
How much tsp of salt we have to put in cooker for boiling the chola’s?
you can add 1 tsp salt.