Punjabi chole masala or chana masala is one of the most popular curry dishes from India. In fact in north India no wedding or party is complete until you have chole masala on the menu. I remember whenever we would call someone over for lunch or dinner, mom would almost always make chole.
So what actually is chole masala? In this recipe, chickpeas are cooked with onions, tomatoes and lots of spices. A special blend of spices called “chole powder/masala” is easily available at every Indian store. One can make chole masala powder at home too by dry roasting ingredients like cumin, cloves, coriander, peppercorn, cardamom etc. But I usually get the masala from the store, saves me time and also tastes good.
My husband loves chole, well that’s given since he is a punjabi. So after I got married I really tried to master making punjabi chole and after lots of trials and errors, I think I have now found the perfect recipe. Hubby feels that I make the best chole, maybe he’s just biased but at least that make me pretty confident about this recipe ; -)
You will notice that I added 2 tea bags while cooking chickpeas in the pressure cooker, that’s because the tea bags help in giving chole a dark brown/black color. I added only 2, but for a deeper darker brown color, you can add more tea bags. And before you start wondering, let me assure you that the tea bags do not hamper the taste of chickpeas in any way.
Serves: 5-6
Ingredients
To pressure cook
Chickpeas/Chole: 2 cups + 2 tbsp
Cardamom: 5-6
Black peppercorn: 4-5
Bay leaves: 2
Cinnamon sticks: 2
Tea bags: 2
Salt: to taste
Water: 5 cups
For the chole
Onion: 3/4 cup, grated or pureed [from 2 small onions]
Tomatoes: 2.5 cups puree [from 4 medium tomatoes]
Cloves: 3-4
Ginger-garlic paste: 2 teaspoon
Chole Masala: 3 teaspoon
Cumin powder: 3/4 teaspoon
Paprika powder: 1/2 teaspoon
Red chili powder: 1/2 teaspoon or to taste
Salt: to taste
To garnish
Ghee [clarified butter]: 1 tablespoon
Ginger: 1 inch, cut into julienne
Dried fenugreek leaves [kasuri methi]: 1/2 tbsp, crushed
Coriander leaves: 2 tablespoon, chopped
Garam masala: 1/4 teaspoon
Method
Soak the chickpeas overnight in enough water to cover them. I soaked a little more than 2 cups and in the morning I had around 5.5 cups of it! Drain the water in which you had soaked the chickpeas.
1. In a pressure cooker add the soaked and drained chickpeas, around 5 cups water, 2 tea bags, bay leaves, cardamom, cinnamon stick and some salt. Pressure cook at high flame till you get 1-2 whistles. After that lower the flame to medium and let the chickpeas cook for another 10-12 minutes. Remove the cooker from heat and allow it to cool down. Once the steam is gone, open the cooker and check the chickpeas. You should be able to press them easily with your fingers. If not, close the cooker and cook for 2 more whistles.
Here, you can also remove the bay leaves, cinnamon stick etc. from the chickpeas if you don’t want them in the curry.
2. In a wok, heat 2 tsp of oil. Once hot, add cloves and grated onions. Fry the onions till the raw smell goes away and they are light golden brown in color.
3. Add ginger-garlic paste and cook for 3-4 minutes till the smell of ginger-garlic goes away.
4. Now add the tomato puree , stir and let it cook for 12-15 minutes on medium-low flame. Cover the pan to prevent splash all around. This step in my opinion is very important. The tomatoes need to be cooked really well till the raw smell goes away completely. So have patience and let them cook for around 15 minutes.
5. Add the chole masala, red chilli powder, paprika powder, cumin powder, salt and mix for a 1-2 minutes.
6. Drain the the chickpeas and add them to the tomato-onion mixture, stir till all the chickpeas are coated with spices, around 2 minutes. Do not throw away the water once you have drained the chickpeas. We will add the same water in the gravy.
7. Add water, cover the pan and let it simmer at medium-low flame for around 30 minutes. The gravy will thicken after 30 minutes so add water accordingly. I do not like thin gravy with chole but if you do add more water than what is mentioned in the recipe.
After 30 minutes the gravy, chickpeas and all the spices would have mixed well together. We can now do the tempering.
8. To temper, heat 1 tbsp of ghee in a pan and the ginger julienne to it.
9. Fry till the juliennes are golden brown in color but do not burn them. Add to the chole curry, mix and switch off the flame.
Sprinkle some garam masala, kasuri methi and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
Serve with roti, paratha or plain rice. Chole-chawal (chole & plain rice) is a very popular combination in North India.
If you’ve tried this Punjabi Chole Recipe then don’t forget to rate the recipe! You can also follow me on Facebook and Instagram to see what’s latest in my kitchen!
Punjabi Chole - Chickpeas Curry
Ingredients
To pressure cook
- 2 cups + 2 tablespoons raw chickpeas
- 5-6 green cardamom pods
- 4-5 black peppercorn
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 tea bags
- salt to taste
- 5 cups water
For the chole masala
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 3-4 cloves
- 3/4 cup pureed onion from 2 small onions
- 2 teaspoons ginger-garlic paste
- 2.5 cups pureed tomatoes from 4 medium tomatoes
- 3 teaspoons chole masala
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika powder
- 3/4 teaspoon cumin powder
- salt to taste
To garnish
- 1 tablespoon ghee
- 1 inch ginger cut into julienne
- 1/4 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/2 tablespoon crushed kasuri methi also known as dried fenugreek leaves
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Soak the chickpeas overnight in enough water to cover them. In the morning, drain the water.
- In a pressure cooker add the soaked and drained chickpeas, 2 tea bags, bay leaves, cardamom, cinnamon stick, salt and 4 to 5 cups water. Pressure cook at high flame till you get 1-2 whistles. After that lower the flame to medium and let the chickpeas cook for another 10-12 minutes.
- In a wok, heat 1 tablespoon of oil. Once hot, add cloves and grated onions. Fry the onions till the raw smell goes away and they are light golden brown in color.
- Add ginger-garlic paste and cook for 3-4 minutes till the smell of ginger-garlic goes away.
- Now add the tomato puree , stir and let it cook for 12-15 minutes on medium-low flame. Cover the pan to prevent the splash all around.
- Add the chole masala, red chilli powder, paprika powder, cumin powder, salt and mix for a 1-2 minutes.
- Add the chickpeas next and stir will all the chickpeas are coated with the spices, around 2 minutes.
- Add water (which was used for boiling the chickpeas), cover the pan and let it simmer at medium-low flame for around 30 minutes. The gravy will thicken after 30 minutes so add water accordingly.
- To temper, heat 1 tbsp of ghee in a pan and the ginger julienne to it.
- Fry till the juliennes are golden brown in color but do not burn them. Add to the chole curry, mix and switch off the flame.
- Sprinkle some garam masala, kasuri methi and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
- Serve with roti, paratha or plain rice.
Notes
- Skip the ghee in the tempering to make this vegan.
- To cut short the process of soaking chickpeas overnight, use canned chickpeas which are easily available at grocery stores. The canned ones can be prepared immediately and do not need to be soaked overnight.
- Adjust the amount of red chili powder in the recipe to taste.
- Patience is something you will need while cooking chole or any such Indian curry. Of course, I can make it in a quicker way by adding everything in the pressure cooker. But if you let the tomatoes and onions cook really well and then simmer the chickpeas with the spices for a longer time, the taste would be much much better.
- I like to keep the chole masala gravy on the thicker side, for a thinner gravy add more water.
- Chole masala actually tastes the best 1 day after you make it because the spices are then better incorporated into the chickpeas.
- Chole freeze well. Let the curry come down to room temperature, store in an airtight container and freeze.
Nutrition
Punjabi Chole
Love the recipe M …I will try. Please let me know what brand chole masala you buy from Indian store.
Thanks CV! I usually buy Everest Chole Masala…in my opinion it tastes the best 🙂
Well maybe your opinion isn’t as good as mine.. Buy Suhana brand chole masala love if you live in mumbai.. it’s better than any other masala
Thanks for the recommendation Akash..I will get it next time I am in Mumbai 🙂
Very nice I cooked and had with Bhatura.. Had a family come in and they loved it
I am really happy to hear that! 🙂
Hey Manali u can add 1/2 cup chana Dal for thicker gravy
thanks for the tip, will try some day. But my chole are already quite thick so have never thought of making them thicker 🙂
Fab fab recipe. Just made it and omg it was the best chole I have tasted in a long time. Kudos!
And thank you!
Welcome Shelley! I am glad you liked them as much we do! 🙂
You are the best cook in the whole wide world! I love all your recipes
Thank you so much for sharing them with us 🙂
aww..thanks Stefan! <3
Thanks Manali for the recipe. Just made it. This one is a keeper.
glad to know!
I made this for my family tonight and served with rice and samosa. Everyone loved this. I just purchased an electric pressure cooker, a hot pot type and it cooked the chickpeas buttery soft. Thank you for this lovely recipe.
I am so glad to hear that Carolyn, glad you enjoyed!
Can I make chana curry without soaking it overnight?
you may..but for a good melt-in-mouth chole like we get in Delhi, chickpeas need to be soaked overnight..gives the best result!
Thank you, Manali, for the delicious recipe! I just made it for my father and myself and we both loved it. I’ll definitely be making this chole again!
Welcome Stefanie! I am glad you & your dad enjoyed it 🙂
Black or green cardamom when pressure cooking?
green!
I usually make very good chole, but your recipe took it to another level!
Keep up the great work!
Awesome! glad you liked it! 🙂
Wow great recipe
I like it n enjoyed this at home
glad to know!
Hello Manali!
I am looking forward to trying this recipe. I made your cauliflower and potato curry and it was so delicious!
One question. I do not have a pressure cooker. What type do you recommend? Do you use yours often when cooking beans? I make a lot of recipes with beans and I am thinking that this would be a wise purchase. But maybe an inexpensive one, as I have just recently purchased a rice cooker and a juicer!
Hi Laura! I always use my pressure cooker while cooking beans, lentils, chickpeas. In India, we used a traditional pressure cooker , like this –> http://amzn.to/2BHqOj0 (affiliate link) and that’s what is still used at my home in India. However these days another another very good option is Instant Pot –> http://amzn.to/2omrCBv (affiliate link). It’s an electric pressure cooker and gives consistent results every time, there’s so much you can do with it and I highly recommend it!
Hello. I would like to make this recipe using chick peas in can. Each one has 400gr. Could you please guide me. How many cans should I use to prepare this delicious recipe. I love chole and want to make it for my husband
Thanks
Adri.
Hi Adri, if your can has 400 grams of chickpeas, use 1 can only..also reduce the liquids in the recipe…canned chickpeas will need less water. Although I have to say that you get authentic taste of chole only by cooking from raw chickpeas since that’s how they are always made in India. Hope that helps! 🙂
Hello Manali,
Tried this recipe n omg this is the best recipe ever..Thanks a ton🤗
Welcome Ankita! So happy to hear that! 🙂
Awesome it tasted. Simply loved it. Even my punjabi friends loved it. And that says it all. Thank you for sharing.
Welcome Sangy, glad you all enjoyed!
I made chole-your style 😉 I’m learning cooking actually
And I cooked it today for my parents
And they’ve loved it !
I didn’t have kasuri methi
Neither did I add cumin powder
But lemme just mention, the idea of adding cinnamon, and All of those ingredients to the pressure cooker, just added that superb taste to the chickpeas
Mamma mia !
I loved my chole ! 😀
Great recipe ! thanks a ton
Hugs and kisses
– from a giddy teenager
haha thanks Vrushali! your comment made me smile, glad you & your parents enjoyed the chole 🙂 Keep cooking!
Chole were never so yummy till date but after preparing it by ur reciepe i started loving it…..yummmmm😘 keep updating us with more yummy reciepes.
I am so glad to know that Monika! 🙂
chole masala = 3tsp
which masala is this
chole masala/chana masala…what we get at grocery store!
Nic recepi i loved it. Ty. bt.
Meri bhukh ka ilaz chicken.
Kukdu ku 🤗
haha
Went and purchased all the spices today at a great Indian Spice shop.She recommended Reshampatti in place of the red chili powder .Do you think that will work?I had smoked paprika at home so I purchased the sweet paprika. Oh,and I forgot the tomatoes.I will make this very soon.
It will work…you can use regular cayenne pepper in place of red chili powder too. Hope you enjoy it!
I made it this morning and it was a great success.Thank you ! I pressure cooked the chickpeas for 35 min.Also I used Veggie Ghee. Is cow Ghee better?
Glad to hear that David 🙂 Yes cow ghee is better, has so much more flavor to it!
Recepi looks yummy.. May I know the purpose of tea bags please
Hi Nikhila..I have mentioned this in the post 🙂 tea bags are to give the chole a dark color..they don’t have any other role nor do they alter the taste in any way. If you don’t want dark chole and don’t care about it..skip them.
Though I’m a pukka non-veggie, nothing beats Punjabi style chole with Paratha. I don’t mind if you turn the spice heat up. I can eat chole every single day of my life.
I didn’t know about the tea bag. Adding a tea bag can add colours the chole. I always wonder that, why my chole didn’t pick the colour like restaurant. Thank you for sharing.
yes that’s the secret 🙂
Great recipe! The flavors work perfectly and the tea-bag does a great job 🙂
I had one question..I soak the chhole overnight for at least 8 hours and cook in Hawkins pressure cooker for 12 whistles. However the chhole still remain hard. I have gone as far as 17 whistles but they don’t soften fully. They’re cooked though and taste fabulous after the rest of the process.
Any tips on what I can do to soften them more apart from more whistles?
Thanks
Hi Rajan! Glad you liked the recipe. If you chole don’t cook well it might be a case of the chickpeas being old. Buy a new bag and try. Also try adding a little baking soda when boiling the chickpea. I would suggest pressure cooking on high heat for 5-6 whistles, then lower the heat and let it cook for 15-20 minutes more on low-medium heat. They should turn out absolutely soft!
Thanks very much…Yes the chickpeas I have been using are quire old, at least 7-8 months…Didn’t think of that!
Will try again with newer ones and add baking soda…
Thank you very much for your really yummy Chole recipe. My wife is bedridden and our helper cooks for us. I decided to use your recipe this evening and I was so happy that my wife really loved it. I too liked it a lot. God bless!
I am so glad to hear that Charles! Sending best wishes for you and your wife..take care..
Hi, First off, your recipe sounds so yummy. And the teabag secret, thank you so much for sharing. Who would have thougt that tea could bring that cooked all day color to the recipe!!
I do have one question, what is chole masala, is there a certain brand or do you make your own. Please do share your chole masala recipe if you have one.
Thanks
Thanks Bushra, I do have a chole masala recipe which I will share someday..but for store bought, I love the Everest brand chole masala!
Hi Manali,
I would like to reduce the quantity of your recipe and cook with only 1 cup of uncooked chickpeas. Can you suggest how to adjust the other ingredients?
Also, how long does this dish keep in the freezer in an airtight container?
Thank you very much!
you can just half the ingredients..should be fine. and I have never tried freezing this dish but it should freeze well for 2 months I guess
This is my go-to recipe for making chole. I love your recipe! After the whole thing is done, i put everything back in the cooker and give it 1 more whistle – really helps everyrhing blend together and makes it melt in the mouth.
Thanks for posting!
Welcome! Glad you enjoy these chole, they are my favorite 🙂
Is there a way to make this recipe without a pressure cooker? Say just simmering on the stove or using a slow cooker?
you can make it..just cook the chickpeas on stove top (after being soaked overnight) until they are done. It will take around 1 hour for it to reach the stage we are looking for in the chole or probably more. I just never cook by beans/chickpeas on stove top so I don’t have a definitive answer!
Thank you!!! I’m making it this weekend, cannot wait!!
It seems I’ve spoiled the chole by adding more red chilli than required😰
I mean I added 1 tsp of chilli powder and no paprika.
What should I do now?
Will adding tomato sauce later solve the problem?
try adding some yogurt to it,…you can also try ketchup
This is such an easy and tastiestttttttt chhole recipe. Have made it twice already! Loved it! You’re aweosme! Thanks.
You are welcome Akansha! So glad you enjoyed these chole, they are my favorite too 🙂
I don’t have chole masala-anything else I can use? Thanks
hmm you can use more of the garam masala and I would use amchur (dried mango powder) for that tangy taste
Hi Manali, I cooked this receive for the first time and believe me it turned out delicious. Your idea of boiling chole with all the spices in there really works wonders in getting that flavour in chole… Thankyou for this receive. Will definitely try your other receipts too 😀
This is an exact replica of how i make chhole!!! I taught myself before internet came into being 🙂 Now I have to follow all your recipes.
Thank you for this. I always try receipes from YouTube but I followed this to then t and it came out delicious. The tea bag really makes a difference!
Welcome! 🙂
Hi I have only green tea bag that are flavoured ones. May I know what brand of tea bag or what names
no you can’t use green tea bags here…you can use any brand but it should be plain black tea bags (no flavor)..that will give the chole a dark brown color..
Amazing recipe! Hotel style chole
They are my favorite! 🙂
Did as per your Receipe and really it was very very delicious.. Just loved it a lotttttt….
awesome!
Amaazinggg Recipe!! Simplified & very well explained!! Thanks a lot! Ended up making one of the best chole ever! Love how you precisely put everything up! Way to goo!!😁
Thanks Harsha, I am happy to hear it worked for you!
Hi Manali made the chole today for lunch and it was yum.Thanks for the recipe.From now on will try all your recipes so we hv more variety.Thank you once again.
glad to hear that!
Awesome recipe!!!!! My husband liked it very much.he asked me to make it again today.thanks Manali ji for this awesome recipe
You are welcome Dimple, glad you enjoyed it
How many cans of chick peas to use if just buying the pre cooked canned version?
I would use around 3 cans!
I prepared This Chholey recipe for my Guests. All the family members loved it. Thanks a lot Manali.
You are welcome! glad to know 🙂
Hi Manali,
I used 2 cups chole ( 1 cup=240 ml) as I had guests over at home and used 5 tomatoes for the purée. However it tastes a bit tangy, I did add chole masala and others u mentioned. Not added the red chilli powder though. Did I use too many tomatoes coz of which the tangy flavour ? Or is it supposed to be like that
no it shouldn’t be tangy…I think the tomatoes you used weren’t sweet, so that’s the reason. Not that it’s tangy, you can add some yogurt or cream to tone it down, coconut milk can also work!
Best recipe on internet for chole. Tried it once and never turned to any other recipe. The little tips and tricks work wonders.
Yay! so glad to hear that Shruti! 🙂
The best chole recipe ever! My hubby and fly members now never want to go to any resturant for chole!❤️
Thank you!
welcome! 🙂
Can you supplement your recipe with directions for an instant pot (instead of a traditional pressure cooker)?
IP chole Masala recipe is in my cookbook! If you want to cook chickpeas in IP for this recipe, soak overnight and cook for 25 minutes on high pressure with natural pressure release. Hope this helps!
Which tea bag to use?
black tea bag, any brand..it’s just for the color, doesn’t give any taste
Ms Manali this recipe is super… I love chole and from now this is going to be the recipe i follow…. Its the best… Fingerlicking…. Thank you very much.
so glad to know!
What kind of chili powder do you use? I’m the US where I live, chili powder tends to be a blend with garlic powder, cumin, paprika and chili spice. I’m guessing it should be pure chili, so I’m wondering what kind. Thank you!
cayenne pepper
I love chickpeas! Thank you for the recipe, Manali 🙂
Hi Manali,
I don’t have paprika powder. What can be a substitute for it? Any suggestions?
you can skip it!