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Chole Bhature also known as Chana Bhatura is a popular, flavourful and tempting North Indian cuisine. Chole Bhature has its origination from the land of Punjab but now it has spread all over the country and is loved by everyone. It is a Punjabi cuisine combination of Chana Masala and Bhatura where Chana Masala is prepared from Chickpeas and Bhatura from maida. Chana Bhatura is mostly served in breakfast. However you can also serve it as a complete meal in lunch along with onion, Green Chutney, pickle and lemon wedges.

Chole Masala has its combination with many food items and together they are famous with their combined name such as Chole Bhature, Chole Chawal, Chole Poori, Chole Kulche, etc. Today we will be preparing the most famous recipe of North India called Chole Bhature.

The preparation of Chola Bhatura involves the preparation of Chole Masala Curry and Bhature separately. Due to this reason it takes time to prepare it. I mostly prefer to prepare Chole curry beforehand while prepare the Bhature instantly few minutes before serving. Chana Masala has many variations and can be cooked in different ways. Here we will prepare the authentic Punjabi style Chana Masala which is similar to restaurant style Punjabi Chole Masala. Also we will be tempering the Chole Masala with Slit Ginger, Green Chilli and Asafoetida after preparing it.

Preparation of Chole Masala in Punjabi style will take extra time and is also tedious to prepare. If you are sort of time, you can prepare the chana masala in less time and in simple way also. Simply skip the use of Tea Bags and whole spices. Also skip the tempering part.

However I will suggest you all to prepare the Chole Masala in the same way as I have described below to prepare tasty and delicious Chole Bhature. Use of whole spices and tempering adds extra flavour to the dish. One thing more, here I will be using Homemade Chole Masala Powder to prepare this recipe which will add extra flavour to the chole masala. Please visit Chole Masala Powder to prepare the masala powder at home. You can also use readymade Chole Masala to prepare it.

To prepare Chole Bhature, first we need to soak the chickpeas overnight or for 8-10 hours. After soaking drain out the water and wash the soaked chickpeas with fresh water 2-3 times. Transfer it to a pressure cooker and add Salt, Baking Soda and Water to it. Baking Soda is added to fasten the process of boiling. Also add Tea Bags and whole spices such as Bay Leaves, Cinnamon Stick, Green Cardamom, Black Cardamom, Star Anise, Cloves (Laung) and Garlic Cloves. Tea Bag gives nice colour and aroma to the chole curry.

Close the cooker with the lid. Switch on the gas and pressure cook the chickpeas for 4-5 whistles over medium flame. After 4-5 whistles switch off the gas and allow the pressure to release on its own. Once the pressure releases completely, open the lid of the cooker. Take out the boiled chickpeas and transfer it to a large bowl by separating it with tea bags and whole spices. Keep the left over boiled water to use it later on while preparing the chole masala curry.

Now take the Chopped Tomatoes and Chopped Onion and grind them separately to prepare smooth paste. Keep them aside. If you want you can also grind them together. I mostly prefer to grind them separately. Heat Oil in a kadai over medium flame. Once hot add Cumin Seeds and Slit Green Chilli to it. Allow the Cumin Seeds to crackle. Now add the Onion paste and saute it till it turns slight golden in colour and starts leaving oil at the edges of the kadai.

Add Ginger Garlic paste and mix it. Saute it for few seconds till the raw smell goes off. Now add Tomato puree and Salt. Remember to add Salt as required since we had already added it while boiling the chickpeas. Mix it with the Onion paste and cook for at least 5-6 minutes or till the raw smell of the tomatoes vanishes. Keep stirring the paste at regular intervals so that it does not stick at the bottom and burn.

After cooking the Tomato and Onion paste, add spices such as Turmeric Powder, Coriander Powder, Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder, Chole Masala Powder and Aamchur Powder. You can skip Aamchur Powder if you do not have. Instead you can add Lemon juice after preparing the chole. Mix all the spices with the paste and cook till it starts leaving oil at the edges.

After cooking the spices, add the Boiled Chickpeas and mix it properly with the spices. Cook for 3-4 minutes or as required. After 3-4 minutes, add the left over boiled water to the chickpeas. Stir it properly and allow it to boil for about 5 minutes. If required you can add extra water to it depending upon the thickness of the gravy you want. Also slightly mash the chole with spatula to make the gravy thicker.

While boiling, the gravy will start leaving oil at the surface. Boil it till you attain the required consistency of the chole. Once you attain the consistency, switch off the flame. Add Chopped Coriander Leaves and Kasuri Methi. Mix it and cover the kadai with the lid.

Now we will temper the Chole Masala. Heat Oil in a deep spatula. Once hot, add Slit Green Chillies, Slit Ginger and Asafoetida. Spread the tempering over the prepared Chole Masala Curry. Punjabi style Chole Masala Curry is ready.

Now we will move towards the other part of the recipe. Let’s now prepare Bhature. Take a large bowl and add Maida, Sooji, Baking Powder, Sugar, Salt and Oil. Mix all the ingredients properly. Next add Curd and mix it again with your palm. Now add required amount of Water and knead the mixture to prepare soft dough. After preparing the dough, apply Oil all over the surface. Cover the dough with muslin cloth and allow it to rest for 2-3 hours. After 2-3 hours remove the muslin cloth and knead it again for few minutes. Dough is ready.

Take the dough and divide it into small parts of medium size. Roll each part into small balls. Take a ball and place it on the rolling board or over kitchen shelf. Roll the ball into a circle shape or oval shape with the help of rolling pin. Now heat Oil in a kadai over medium heat. Once hot, drop the rolled dough into the oil. Fry it by flipping it at intervals till it turns golden in colour. Take out the Bhature and place it over tissue paper to absorb excess oil. In the same manner prepare Bhature for the remaining dough.

Soft and puffy Bhature is ready to serve along with Chole Masala. Garnish Chole Masala with Chopped Coriander Leaves and serve it with hot Bhature along with Onion, Pickle and Lemon wedges. Pickle and Lemon adds tangy flavour to chole masala.

Do prepare this authentic Chole Bhature dish at home and give your valuable feedbacks and suggestions in the comment section below. Like and share our page through social media platforms. Also share this recipe with your friends and relatives through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

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Let’s start preparing the Punjabi style Chole Bhature recipe….

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5 from 40 votes

Chole Bhature/Chana Bhatura/Chola Bhatura/Chhole Bhature

Chole Bhature or Chana Bhatura is one of the most popular breakfast or snack recipe in North India. It is a Punjabi cuisine of Chole Masala prepared from Chickpeas and Bhatura prepared from maida.

Course Breakfast, Main Course, Snacks, Street Food

Cuisine Indian, North Indian, Punjabi

Diet Vegetarian

Keyword Chana Bhatura, Chhole Bhature, Chola Bhatura, Chole Bhature

Preparation Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Passive Time 8 hours hours

Total Time 9 hours hours

Servings 4 servings

Calories 290kcal

Author Recipe by Chits

Equipments:

• Pressure Cooker
• Kadai
• Muslin Cloth
• Rolling Board and Pin
• Tissue Paper

Ingredients:

For Pressure Cooking Chole/Chickpeas:

• 1 cup White Chickpeas (Chole Chana or Kabuli Chana)
• 2 bags Tea Bags
• A pinch Baking Soda (Optional)
• 1 piece Bay Leaves/Tej Patta
• 1 inch stick Cinnamon Stick
• 1 piece Black Cardamom/Badi Elaichi
• 2-3 pieces Green Cardamom
• 1 piece Star Anise/Chakra Phool
• 2-3 pieces Cloves/Laung
• 2 tablespoon Garlic Cloves
• Salt to taste
• Water as required

For Preparing Chole Masala/Chickpeas Curry:

• 1 medium Chopped Onion
• 2 medium Chopped Tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds
• 2 pieces Slit Green Chillies
• 1 teaspoon Ginger Garlic Paste
• 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
• 1 tablespoon Coriander Powder
• 2 teaspoon Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder
• 2 tablespoon Chana/Chole Masala Powder
• 1 teaspoon Aamchur Powder
• 2 tablespoon Chopped Coriander Leaves
• 1 teaspoon Kasuri Methi
• 2 tablespoon Oil
• Salt to taste
• Water if required

For Tempering Chole Masala:

• 2 tablespoon Oil
• 1 tablespoon Slit Ginger
• 3 pieces Slit Green Chillies
• A pinch Asafoetida

For Bhatura:

• 1.5 cup All Purpose Flour (Maida)
• 1/2 cup Semolina (Sooji)
• 1/2 cup Curd (Yoghurt)
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 2 teaspoon Sugar
• 2 tablespoon Oil
• Salt to taste
• Warm Water for kneading
• Oil for Deep Frying

For Serving:

• Onion
• Lemon Wedges
• Pickle
• Chopped Coriander Leaves

Instructions:

Pressure Cooking of Chole/Chickpeas:

• Take White Chickpeas (Chole Chana/Kabuli Chana) and soak in water overnight or for 8-10 hours. After soaking, drain out the water and rinse the soaked Chickpeas with fresh water for 2-3 times.
• In a pressure cooker take the washed Chickpeas. Add Salt, Baking Soda and required amount of Water to it. Baking Soda is optional. You can skip it if you want. It is added to boil the chana in quick time.
• To it add Tea Bags and whole spices such as Bay Leaves, Cinnamon Stick, Green Cardamom, Black Cardamom, Star Anise, Cloves (Laung) and Garlic Cloves. Tea Bag gives nice colour and aroma to the chole curry.
• Switch on the stove and place the cooker over it. Close the cooker with lid and pressure cook the Chickpeas over medium flame for 4-5 whistles.
• After 4-5 whistles switch off the gas and allow the pressure to release on its own completely. Do not open the lid immediately.
• Once the pressure completely releases, open the lid and drain out the water. Keep the boiled chickpeas in a separate bowl by separating it with the tea bags and the whole spices. Also keep the left over water to use it later on to prepare the curry of Chole Masala.

Preparation of Chole/Chickpeas Curry:

• Take the Chopped Tomatoes in a mixer grinder jar and grind it to make a smooth tomato puree. Also grind the Chopped Onion to make smooth paste. You can grind them together if you want. I usually grind them separately. Keep them aside.
• Now heat 2 tablespoon Oil in a kadai over medium flame. Add Cumin Seeds and Slit Green Chillies to it.
• When the Cumin Seeds starts to crackle, add the Onion paste. Saute it till it turns slight golden in colour and starts leaving oil at the edges of the kadai.
• Add Ginger Garlic Paste. Mix it and saute for few seconds till the raw smell of Ginger Garlic paste goes off.
• Next add Tomato Puree and Salt. Mix the ingredients properly. Cook for 5-6 minutes or till the raw smell of tomatoes goes off. Keep stirring it at regular intervals so that it does not stick at the bottom of the kadai. Add Salt as required since we had already added Salt while pressure cooking the Chickpeas.
• Now add the spices such as Turmeric Powder, Coriander Powder, Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder, Chole Masala Powder and Aamchur Powder. If you do not have Aamchur Powder, you can replace it with lemon juice. Add it before serving. Please visit Chole Masala Powder to prepare this masala powder at home. You can also use readymade chole masala powder.
• Mix the spices with the Onion and Tomato paste. Saute them till the spices are cooked properly or the spices starts leaving oil at the edges of the kadai.
• Now add the Boiled Chickpeas and combine it well with the spices. Cook it for 3-4 minutes.
• After 3-4 minutes add the left over Chickpeas water to the chole. If required you can add extra water to it. Slightly mash the chole with the spatula to make the gravy thicker.
• Cover the kadai and cook for about 5 minutes till the oil slightly separates with the chole. The gravy of the chole will become little thicker. Adjust the consistency of the chole curry as per your choice.
• Lastly add Chopped Coriander Leaves and Kasuri Methi. Mix it and switch of the flame.
  
• Now we will temper the Chole Masala. Heat Oil in a deep spatula. Add Slit Green Chillies, Slit Ginger and Asafoetida. Spread the tempering over the prepared Chole Masala. Punjabi Chole Masala is ready to serve.
  

Preparation of Bhature Dough:

• In a large mixing bowl, take All Purpose Flour (Maida) and Semolina (Sooji). Mix to combine well.
• Next add Baking Powder, Sugar, Salt and Oil. Mix all the ingredients properly.
• Now add Curd and with the help of your palm mix it again. Next add Warm Water and knead the mixture to prepare soft dough.
• After preparing the dough, apply some oil all over the dough. Cover the dough with muslin cloth and allow it to rest for 2-3 hours.
• After 2-3 hours, remove the muslin cloth. Knead it again for few minutes. The dough is ready to prepare the Bhature.

Preparation of Bhature:

• Divide the dough into small parts of medium size. Roll each part to make small balls.
• Take a ball and place it on the rolling board. With the help of rolling pin, roll the ball into a circle shape or oval shape.
• In a kadai heat Oil over medium flame for deep frying. Once hot, drop the rolled dough into the oil.
• The rolled dough will quickly start puffing. When the dough gets puffed up, turn it upside down and fry the other side.
• Fry the Bhature till it turns to golden brown in colour. Take out the Bhature from the oil and place it over tissue paper or kitchen towel to absorb excess oil. In the same manner, roll and fry all the Bhature.
  
• Chole Bhature is ready to serve. Serve Bhature hot with Chole Curry. Before serving, garnish Chole Curry with Chopped Coriander Leaves and serve it hot with Onion, Pickle and Lemon wedges.
  

Notes:

1. Tea Bags have been used only to give a restaurant style colour to the Chole Curry. You can skip it if you want.
2. We have used Tea Bags while boiling the chickpeas. If you do not have tea bags then take muslin cloth and place 2 teaspoon Tea Powder or Tea Leaves over it and tie it so that the tea leaves does not comes out. Then use it for pressure cooking of chole.
3. Here we add the whole spices while pressure cooking the chickpeas. It is because if we add it directly while making the recipe with other spices, it ruins the taste when the whole spices strike in our mouth while eating.
4. Here we have used readymade Chole Masala Powder to prepare Chole curry. You can use Homemade Chole Masala Powder to prepare this tasty recipe.
5. Leftover Water after boiling the chickpeas is used to prepare the chole curry since it gives nice flavour of whole spices to it.
6. Add Water to Chole curry as per your requirement of the thickness of the recipe. After preparation, mash the chole slightly to make the gravy thick and flavourful.
7. There is another method of making the gravy thick. Take some amount of boiled chana and make a paste of it in mixer grinder. Add it to the Chole curry while cooking.
8. You can skip the tadka to the Chole Masala if you want. But I would personally suggest you to add the tadka to the Chole Curry.
9. After preparing the dough, allow it to rest for few hours. This helps in preparing soft and puffy Bhature.
10. While serving, garnish Chole Curry with Chopped Coriander Leaves and serve it hot with Onion, Pickle and Lemon wedges.