‘Chhole’ this one word was enough to make my head dizzy though it is an extremely delicious dish and one of the most popular dishes. What? You don’t believe me??? Come to any Indian (except south) wedding, you will understand what I mean here by popularJ. It can be consumed at any time of the day (please consider the nights also 😛 ). But still I used to make faces on this item. Now I tell you the Raaz (secret) behind it. At my mother’s place, we used to have this chhole on each and every Tuesday (still I don’t know the reasonL ). I got so fed up that whenever I used to eat out with my friends I used to shout at them “No Chhole-bhature piiiileazee”. One day one of my old pals told me there are many variation of the same item and all taste ‘heavenly good’!!! As I never been in heaven I really can’t comment on this phrase; I guess whichever is beyond our explanation (read, we are outta words 😉 ) we title them with this. And I started looking for it. Wherever I heard they serve good chhole-bhature, I ordered. But I only piled up kilos that also for indifferent taste L (pity me).
Then I planned to get a different taste of the same dish not by ordering but just by cooking. Here my venture started. I went through all the possible (on the mother Earth!) suggestions/ cook-books/ tips/ internet blogs/ cookery shows and ended up with so many different variations of the same simple ‘chhole’ (now I really miss my little friend who suggested me the same thing long back).
- Kabuli chana: 1 ½ -2 tea cups
- Tea bag: 1 (black)
- Onions: 2
- Tomato: 1 (large)
- Green chilli: 6-7
- Ginger: ½”
- Garlic: ⅚ cloves
- Cashew nuts: ⅚
- Raisins: handful
- Khoya: ¼ cup
- Hing: 1 pinch
- Bay leaves: 2
- Methi seeds: 1 tsp
- Clove: 3-4
- Black cardamom powder: 1 tsp
- Cinnamon powder: 1 tsp
- Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
- Turmeric powder: 1 tsp
- Chilli powder: 2 tsp
- Cumin seeds powder: 1 tsp
- Coriander powder: 1 tsp
- Garam masala powder: 1 tsp
- Dried mango powder: ½ tsp (optional)
- Chat Masala: ½ tsp (optional)
- Beaten curd: 1 tbsp
- Pre-cooked mutton: 1 tea cup
- Oil: 2 tbsp
- Ghee: 1 tbsp
- Water: 2 cups (warm)
- Wash and clean the chana and soak overnight. (if you are in hurry, use warm water and soak for 6 hrs. atleast)
- Put the chana in a pressure cooker with the tea bag, pinch of turmeric powder and salt. Cook it for 4-5 whistles (or until they are soft). Drain and discard the tea bag. Keep the chana aside.
- Soak raisins in a bowl of water.
- Finely chop onions, tomato, green chillies. Grate ginger and garlic.
- Dry roast cashew nuts.
- Heat oil in a wok. Add (11) to (17) and wait for them to crackle.
- Add onion, green chilli, fry until onions are translucent. Add ginger-garlic and continue frying until fragrant and onions are golden brown.
- Add tomato with little salt, fry until tomato is cooked (or you can’t smell any rawness of the tomato).
- Add dry ingredients from (18) to (21) and fry for another minute.
- Add the chana and give it a good stir. Add warm water, mix well. Let it boil until the curry reduced to half of it. Sprinkle the dried mango powder now (if you are using any).
- Add pre-cooked minced mutton and stir well.
- Turn off the heat. Remove the wok from oven. Mix the Chat masala (if you are using any) with beaten curd and mix with the chana by stirring well. Take back the wok to oven and keep on simmer.
- Add khoya, cashew and raisins one by one and stir continuously avoid burning. Once it thickens (little), remove the wok from flame.
- Transfer chhole into the individual serving bowl and sprinkle little garam masala.
- Chhana
- Top with little ghee (be generous if you are not running on the treadmill 😉 ), onion rings and lime wedges. Serve hot with bhhature/paratha/kucha/naan and salad.
ja ta to… jahangiri chhole.. kottheke peyechis esob naam? 😀
fatafati cook hoye gechis tui 🙂
arre eta actually bohu purono recipe…sei mughol period er. jodio original na.. seta khete hole amader mondir e sthan hobe khali.. tai amar moto modification kore niyechi 😛