Chole Bhature is a delightful combination of spicy chick pea curry with fried bread. The first time I had this is always in my memory. It was at "Woodlands" Restaurant near "Mylapore". When I was 4, that open restaurant with a play area was like a disney land for me. I used to wait when my dad would take me for the next time to have Chole Bhature and play in the park.
When I had a conversation with my friend Reetu Upadhyay lately about food she had stories to tell about her most fav recipe. She is also a die hard fan for chole and bhature. When I came to know that she stopped making this as her kids or hubby did not show much interest, I felt it was time for me to treat her. When I made this and surprised her, may be she was the happiest person on that day on earth.... it was indeed a great feeling to see some one feeling so happy. So here are the clicks as I cooked this to treat my super good buddy....
Ingredients:(Servings : 4)
For Bhature:
All purpose flour/Maida - 2-1/2 cups
Semolina/Sooji/Rava - 1/4 cups
Sugar - 1 teaspoon
Salt - to taste
Baking powder - 1/4 teaspoon (Totally Optional)
Baking soda - 1/4 teaspoon (Totally Optional)
Plain Curd/Yogurt - 1 cup
Water/Milk - 1/2 cup (Have tried both so Choice is yours)
Oil - 1/2 teaspoon
Oil - as needed for deep frying bhature's
For Chole :
To Temper:
Oil - 5 tablespoons
Cumin seeds - 1-1/2 teaspoons
Bay leaf - 2 no's
Cloves - 2 no's
Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
Green Cardamon - 1 no
For Masala:
White Chickpeas / Channa - 1-1/2 cups(Soaked Overnight)
Ginger Garlic paste - 1-1/2 tablespoon
Green Chilli - 2 no's (Small, slit in middle)
Onion - 1 cup heaped (1 big onion finely chopped)
Tomatoes - 3/4 cup (2 medium tomatoes finely chopped)
Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Red chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Coriander powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Channa Masala - 2 tablespoons
Garam masala - 1/4 teaspoon
Coriander leaves - 2 tablespoons(Finely Chopped)
Water - 1-1/2 cup
Method:
For Making Bhature :
- Take a bowl, add in APF, Semolina, Baking Powder, Baking soda, Salt, Sugar and stir well. Add Curd and mix well so that the curd coats the flour completely. Keep Kneading adding some water little by little to convert the flour to complete dough(We dont want the dough to be super soft, remember not to add more water than the above measurements).Finally Coat the dough with 1/2 teaspoon of oil all over it. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and place in a warm place for 3 to 4 hours(minimum of 2 hours is needed). The dough will be soft and slightly raised after 4 hours of its resting time.
- Take a deep frying pan, Heat oil in a medium flame needed to deep fry the bhature's. Side by side, divide the dough to big lemon sized balls and roll them equally on the rolling board. It should be slightly thicker than roti.
- Add the bhature to hot oil and press them slightly on top immediately. This will help them to puff up. Now turn and cook the other side. Drain from the oil and place it on a tissue paper(This removes excess oil).
For Making Chole Masala:
- Soak Chickpeas with water above its level Overnight or for a minimum of 10 hours. Heat oil in a pressure cooker, add in all ingredients under "To temper" column and saute for 30 seconds.
- Add in Green chillies, Onion with little salt and saute until they are slightly transparent brown. Add in Ginger Garlic paste and saute for 1 minute. Add in Turmeric, Chilli, Coriander, Channa Masala powders, saute for 2 minutes.
- Add in Tomatoes and saute until it merges well with onion and oil oozes out. Add in chole(Soaked Overnight) garam masala, Water(Add according to the thickness of your need) stir well and check for salt. Pressure cook for 8 to 9 whistles.
- Once pressure is down open and add some chopped coriander. Serve hot with Bhature.
My Notes:
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda are optional ingredients. It is added to make the dough soft and fluffy. We can also add boiled grated potatoes too to make the dough soft and fluffy.
- Milk or Water can be added while kneading. Milk helps bhatura's to look more white when used. Have tried both and they do not differ in taste.
- Semolina is added to retain the fluffiness and gain the crispiness for bhaturas, so I request you not to avoid this. Sugar is also added to get that golden crispy texture.
- Coating the dough with oil will help the dough retain moisture inside than getting dry from outside. this can also be followed while making chappathi dough too.
- The temperature of oil while frying Bhaturas is very important. Try to keep it in Medium flame only so that they get cooked and puffs without getting dark brown on top.
- Always soak chickpeas over night or around 10 to 12 hours to get them perfectly cooked in pressure cooker. Fresh chickpeas can also be used for this recipe.
- I love to cook Chickpeas with all masalas but we can also cook them seperately in pressure cooker and add that to the curry in the end.
- If you plan to add boiled chickpeas to curry, then add a teabag while boiling the chickpeas. this gives a great brown colour for the curry and chickpeas.
- The ratio of Onion and Tomato used is very important in this curry. It tastes better if we use 1:3/4 raio for Onion:Tomato. This will help you to decide if you plan to cook lesser or higher in quantity.
- If channa masala is not available then adding Chilli, Coriander powders with Garam masala will do too. 1:2:1 will be the ratio.
- This is a bit of a spicy version so add only the channa masala while preparing this curry if you want to tone down the spiciness.
