Where it comes from
A Punjabi refugee dish that became Delhi's loudest breakfast. The near-black colour of good chole comes from cooking the chickpeas with tea leaves and dried amla, not from burnt onions.
Method
- 1
Cook the chickpeas with tea
30:00Pressure cook the soaked chana with the tea pouch and salt until soft enough to squash between two fingers.
- 2
Knead the bhatura dough
10:00Mix flour, yogurt, carom, salt and warm water into a soft dough. Cover and rest in a warm place.
- 3
Build the masala
18:00Brown onions deeply, add ginger-garlic, then tomato and the ground spices; fry until oil separates.
- 4
Simmer the chole
20:00Add the chickpeas with their dark liquor, mash a spoonful for body, and simmer until glossy. Finish with amchur.
- 5
Fry the bhature
12:00Roll into ovals and slide into hot oil, pressing gently with the ladle until they balloon, then flip once.
Cook's notes
- Rested dough puffs; hurried dough goes flat and greasy.
- The oil must shimmer — cool oil soaks straight into the bread.
