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Chole Masala Recipe

Roasted ingredients can lift any dish to heights and this Chole Masala recipe is no exception. The process requires soaking chickpeas overnight, pressure cooking, and grinding roasted ingredients like coconut, chillies and spices, The rest of the cooking process is as any other cooked gravy. It's the hint of sugar that does the trick, try it and you'll be hungry for more.
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe
Prep Time 8 hrs
Cook Time 30 mins
Total Time 8 hrs 30 mins
Course Main Course, Mains
Cuisine Indian
Servings 6 persons

Equipment

  • Pressure Cooker
  • Mixer-grinder
  • Small non-stick pan
  • Wooden spoon (for roasting)

Ingredients
  

General Ingredients for Chole Masala Recipe

  • 1 cup chickpeas (soaked overnight in water, pressure-cooked next day)
  • 1 onion (large) (finely chopped, cross-wise)
  • 1½ tomatoes (large) (finely chopped, cross-wise)
  • 3 sprigs coriander leaves (finely chopped)
  • 2 sprigs curry leaves (washed and pat dry)
  • ½ tsps turmeric powder (to be added during pressure cooking)
  • ¾ tsp sugar
  • 1 cube Maggi (first crushed in its pack, then used in crumbled form)
  • ¼ cup refined cooking oil (sunflower / rice bran)
  • water (4-5 glasses for soaking, adequate for pressure cooking)
  • salt (to taste)

Roast Ingredients for Chole Masala Recipe

  • 1⅓ cups fresh coconut (grated)
  • 6 dry red chillies (Kashmiri)
  • ⅓ inch ginger
  • 6 cloves garlic
  • ¾ tsp cumin seeds
  • 1½ tbsp whole coriander seeds
  • ¾ tsp fennel seeds
  • cloves
  • ½ tsp whole black peppercorns
  • ½ tsp cloves
  • 1 green cardamom
  • ¾ tsp poppy seeds
  • ¼ tsp nutmeg powder
  • 2 petals star anise

Instructions
 

Preparation Method for Chole Masala Recipe

  • The process starts a day ahead of the dish preparation, by soaking the chickpeas in an adequate amount of water to dunk them completely and well. You may have to check on the chickpeas in an hour, as they tend to soak in copious amounts of water and ensure that more water is added to cover them.
  • Before embarking on the preparation the next day, pressure cook the soaked chickpeas in 2 cups water. Add turmeric powder and a teaspoon of salt. Usually 3 cooker whistles should mark the end of the pressure-cooking. An easy test to check if the chickpeas are cooked is to press one down with your finger or a spoon - if it mashes under the pressure it's done. Remove and keep aside in a bowl.
  • Now's the time to roast the ingredients indicated above. Use a small non-stick pan and a wooden spoon. Heat a few drops of oil to roast the grated coconut till a hint of brown. Remove from pan, and slide into a waiting bowl deep enough to hold all the roasted ingredients.
  • Add a few drops of oil, heat for a few seconds and add the chopped onion / ginger / garlic till a light brown. Remove into the same bowl in which the roasted coconut lies.
  • Use the above steps to roast the dry red chillies too, till crackling point. Remove into the bowl.
  • Next roast the spices, taking care to not burn the poppy seeds. Save it for the last as they tend to burn soon. Ensure the spices are roasted on low heat as we want them to be sufficiently flavourful and not overly burnt. Slide into the same bowl and let cool.
  • When the roasted ingredients are cooled, grind them util fine but not super fine.
  • The cooking process starts now. Heat oil in a separate sufficiently deep non-stick curry pan. Add the roasted onion and curry leaves and saute till the onions till they wilt.
  • Add the chopped tomatoes and saute till mushy.
  • Then add the ground masala paste to the sauteed onions and tomatoes and cook for a 5-7 minutes. Do so till the masala is well-ensconced with the veggies, taking care to keep the flame low in the process.
  • Now comes the near final step of adding the pressure-cooked chickpeas, together with its boiled water, crushed soup cube, sugar and salt to taste. Add water according to the desired thickness of gravy.
  • Garnish with chopped coriander and serve with hot steaming rice or freshly baked chapati.