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amritsari pindi chole recipe
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Amritsari Pindi Chole Recipe

Pindi Chole or Pindi Chana Masala is a dry preparation made using chickpeas or garbanzo beans. Hailing from the area in and around Rawalpindi, a city in erstwhile Punjab in undivided India now in Pakistan, this pindi chole recipe is somewhat a speciality of this region. It is dark brown in colour, with no or very little gravy and is often served with bhature or kulchas.
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Punjabi
Keyword Amritsari Choley Recipe, Chana Masala Recipe, Chickpea Recipes, Chole Bhaturey, Gluten Free Recipes, Pindi Choley Recipe, Restaurant style Recipes, Street Food, Street-style Chole Bhaturey recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Soak Time 8 hours
Total Time 9 hours
Servings 2 people
Author Priyanka

Equipment

  • Mixing Bowl
  • Pressure Cooker
  • MagicBullet Blender
  • Heavy bottom Non-stick Pan
  • Skillet or Tawa

Ingredients

For Amritsari Chole Masala Powder Recipe

  • ¼ tsp Cumin Seeds
  • ¼ tsp Caraway Seeds Shahi Jeera
  • ½ tsp Coriander Seeds
  • ½ tsp Carrom Seeds Ajwain
  • ½ tsp Peppercorns
  • 4 Cloves
  • ½ inch Cinnamon
  • 2 Green Cardamom
  • 1 Black Cardamom
  • ⅛ tsp Nutmeg
  • 2-3 strands Mace

For Pindi Chole Recipe

  • 1 cup Chickpeas Kabuli Chana/Garbanzo Beans
  • 1 Onion Large
  • 2 Tomato Medium
  • 2 tbsp Ginger & Garlic grated
  • 3 tbsp Mustard Oil
  • 1 tbsp Ghee
  • 1 Dry Red Chilli
  • 1 Bay Leaf
  • ⅛ tsp Hing or Asafoetida
  • 1 Indian Gooseberry or Amla
  • 1 Black Tea Bag
  • Salt to Taste
  • ½ tsp Smoked Paprika or Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder

Instructions

To make the homemade Chole Masala powder

  • Dry roast all the spices listed under the tag for Chole Masala powder recipe. Tear open the cardamoms and give them a couple of pounds to better release the flavours. Remove the shells of the cardamoms and keep them aside
    ¼ tsp Cumin Seeds, ¼ tsp Caraway Seeds, ½ tsp Coriander Seeds, ½ tsp Carrom Seeds, ½ tsp Peppercorns, 4 Cloves, ½ inch Cinnamon, 2 Green Cardamom, 1 Black Cardamom, ⅛ tsp Nutmeg, 2-3 strands Mace
  • Roast them till they become aromatic and start smoking a bit. Turn off the heat and remove the spices to another plate to stop them from burning in the heated pan
  • Once the spices have cooled down completely, grind it into a fine powder. Store it in an air-tight container till you are ready to use.

To prep or soak the Chickpeas for this Pindi Chana Masala recipe

  • Wash the Chickpeas or Kabuli Chana and then soak it in clean drinking water for a minimum of 8-10 hrs or overnight
    1 cup Chickpeas
  • Next morning, discard the soaking water and wash the chickpeas a couple of times before cooking
  • Pressure cook the soaked Chickpeas in adequate water, enough to cover them with some Salt, Amla or Indian Gooseberry, Cardamom shells that we kept aside and a Black Tea Bag
    1 Indian Gooseberry or Amla, 1 Black Tea Bag, Salt to Taste
  • Allow the Pressure Cooker to whistle 3-4 times on High heat and then cook on Medium heat for next 15 minutes. After that turn off the heat and alllow the cooker to cool down completely and depressurise on its own
  • Once it is ready to be opened, remove the lid of the cooker. Discard the tea bag and the shells that we put in. They have done their magic

To make the Pindi Choley

  • Heat some Mustard Oil in a pan and drop the Bay Leaf and some Hing in it. Let it sizzle for couple of seconds before adding the Onion paste. Saute it for a couple of minutes before adding the ginger, garlic and tomato paste in it. Fry this till it reduces and you see some oil separating at the edges
    1 Onion, 2 Tomato, 3 tbsp Mustard Oil, 1 Bay Leaf, ⅛ tsp Hing or Asafoetida, 2 tbsp Ginger & Garlic
  • Now, add the smoked paprika or red chilli powder and the prepared Pindi Chole Masala Powder. Add a bit of a salt and give everything a mix
    ½ tsp Smoked Paprika or Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder
  • In a minute or two of cooking on medium-low heat, add the cooked chole into the masala mix. Give everything a good mix and let it simmer till it reduces to a dry-ish gravy. Keep stirring and mashing it a bit using the back of your ladle. This will thicken and improve the texture of this dish
    Season with Salt as needed.
    Salt to Taste
  • Once it has reached the desired consistency, turn the heat off.
  • In another tadka pan, heat some ghee. Turn off the heat and drop a couple of sliced garlic cloves, half a teaspoon of red chilli powder and whole dried red chilies. Allow them to sizzle for a minute and then pour it over the chana. Serve it hot.
    1 tbsp Ghee, 1 Dry Red Chilli

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