Chole Chana Masala- Punjabi

Made in spicy onion tomato gravy and flavored with Indian spices, this Punjabi Chole Chana Masala Recipe is heavenly and perfect for a weeknight hearty meal!

Punjabi Chole Recipe is an Indian curry made with chickpeas boiled and simmered in tomato onion spicy gravy. Ghee is an incredible part of Indian dishes. This recipe of Indian Chole Masala is made using ghee and is definitely an Authentic recipe for Punjabi Chole Masala! 

This traditional Indian Chole Curry made with chickpeas is one of the popular companions of our street food- Chole Bhature. Born in a Punjabi family, loving Chole Bhature (a popular food of Punjab), comes naturally to me. I have loved this street food ever since I can remember.

Though I love ghee-rich chole, this homemade chole uses as much ghee as required and uses no cream.  

Boiled Chickpeas (Chole) tempered with flavorful tomato onion gravy rich in spices and ghee and topped with cilantro leaves and ginger slices is a hit in our family.

Be it a family dinner or a lazy weekend morning, Indian-styled Chole Chana masala is a perfect meal when teamed with Poori, plain or bathua paratha or jeera rice, cilantro lime brown rice, and Pumpkin rice.

Spice it up with my homemade chana masala powder, chaat masala, and homemade garam masala.

If you love Chickpeas, you may also like these recipes made using chickpeas- Creamy Chickpea Salad, Chana Saag Recipe, Chana Spinach Dal, and Kala Chana Chaat.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• How To Make Chole Chana Masala
• Tip
• Expert Tips
• Serving Suggestions
• Variations
• Stories From Kitchen
• Chole Chana Masala Recipe- Punjabi Style

Ingredients

The recipe uses simple pantry staples and if you don't have any ingredient, it can be easily procured from the local stores. For measurements, you may refer to the recipe card.

• Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans)- is the star ingredient of this recipe. The recipe uses dry white chickpeas, which are soaked overnight and then boiled. If you are busy, you may use the canned chickpeas as well. The canned chickpeas need to drain and wash fully. They need less time to boil. Any local Indian store would have a stock of dry chickpeas. 
• Onion-The thinly chopped onion adds a mildly sweet flavor to the gravy of chole. I have used red onion. You may use white onion and shallots too.
• Tomatoes- The juicy and tangy tomatoes add perfect richness and texture to the gravy. You may use any local variety. In India, we use Desi tomatoes which are small, round, and really tangy. I like adding chopped tomatoes to the chole but tomato puree or tomato paste works fine too.
• Ginger & Garlic-The flavor of freshly grated ginger and garlic adds aroma not just to the chickpeas but also to the entire home. I add grated ginger while boiling the chickpeas. Garlic is added during the tempering. While I recommend the use of fresh ginger and garlic, one may use ginger and garlic powder or ginger garlic paste as well. The taste would vary significantly, though.
• Ghee- I can't imagine cooking the Indian gravies without ghee. If you wish to make this recipe vegan, you may use vegan oils like almond, coconut, or avocado oil. However, the taste may vary for sure.
• Green Chili-The heat that comes from green chili creates a humble balance of spices. Feel free to reduce it. 

• Indian Spices-The depth of flavor that comes from fresh and whole Indian spices in this dish is incredible. I have used bay leaves, green cardamoms, clove, and Black pepper in whole spices and red chili powder. You may add any other whole spice like Nutmeg, black cardamom, or cinnamon as well. You may procure these spices from Indian Grocery stores.
• Chole Masala- I use store-bought Chole masala powder from the brand- GM Foods. You may use any brand or also make a homemade chana masala powder. If I don't have channa masala, I sometimes use Chaat Masala.
• Cilantro or Coriander Leaves- Freshly chopped coriander leaves are added as a garnish to this dish. You may use parsley as well.
• Salt- This recipe uses a mix of rock salt (Sendha Namak) and normal salt. You may use Kosher salt too.

How To Make Chole Chana Masala

Step 1 Soak and Boil Chickpea in a Pressure Cooker

The prep time begins as early as the night before you wish to cook chickpea curry. Soaking Chickpeas is an important step and I would recommend not skipping it. 

But if for some reason you can't soak them, you may soak them in hot water for 10 min or cook them longer than usual. (15 min more). Take a large pressure cooker and add soaked chickpeas (drain the water in which they were soaked) along with salt and grated ginger.

Let it boil for 2 whistles on full and then simmer the flame and cook for about 15 min. The boiled chickpeas would be soft and their outer skin would come off. You may mash them easily with your fingers. If you don't like mushy chickpeas, you may pressure cook for 10 min only.

Step 2 Prepare The Spicy Gravy

In a saucepan or heavy-bottomed kadai/wok, prepare the onion-tomato gravy. Add ghee to the wok. Once hot, add Heeng (Asafoetida), Cumin Seeds, Bayleaf, Cardamom, Black pepper, Clove, onion, and garlic. 

Onions take about 2 min to become pink and transparent. You may add the chopped tomatoes. Tomato gravy can also be used. Cook tomatoes with spices for about 2 min on slow flame.

Step 3 Add Onion Tomato Masala to Boiled Chana

Add chickpeas and let them simmer on slow flame for about 5-10 min to blend the spices and flavor. You may boil more depending upon how thick gravy you wish to have. 

Once they cool off for a few hrs, they tend to become thicker.

I generally pressure cook the chickpeas after adding masala for about 5 min.

Step 4 Serve It

The Punjabi Chole Masala is ready! Top it with coriander leaves and sliced ginger and serve it with jeera rice, paratha or poori.

Expert Tips

• Pressure cooking chickpeas with salt helps cook them faster.
• If you are making this recipe in summer, I suggest soaking them in hot water for 2-3 hrs rather than soaking them overnight. This helps increase the perish-ability time. 
• If you are using canned chickpeas, make sure to drain the water and remove the aquafaba layer under tap water.
• To have a blended flavor in the curry, make sure to pressure cook the chole for 5 min after adding the onion-tomato gravy.
• If you are using store-bought Chole Masala, make sure to read the instructions. I use only a small quantity of it. They usually are added with extra salt and I avoid using whole packet in one recipe. Instead, I use 1-2 tablespoon depending upon the quantity of chole. 
• If you wish to have a dark brown color of chole gravy, you may add 1 or 2 tea bags wrapped in a muslin cloth while boiling the chickpeas.
• Pls note that the serving size may change if you serve chole curry with rice. This estimated serving is in bowls and depends on the consistency of the gravy as well.

Serving Suggestions

The Chole Masala and rice is a match made in heaven. That said, I love poori and paratha with it as well. My husband loves this dish with plain bread.

• Jeera Rice
• Brown Rice Pulao
• Cilantro Lime Brown RIce
• Plain Boiled Rice
• Poori
• Ragi Paratha
• Samosa

Variations

• Chickpea Spinach Curry (Chana Saag)-You may add green spinach leaves to make Chickpea Spinach Curry.
• Coconut Chickpea Curry- You may add coconut milk or freshly grated coconut to chickpea curry. This adds a South-Indian touch to the otherwise North-Indian Curry.
• Instant Pot Chana Masala-
• Add another vegetable- Aloo Chana is another popular dish from India. The Chole of the market is made with large chunks of boiled potato.

Stories From Kitchen

Being born in a Punjabi family meant having Chole Bhature on every visit to the market. Sometimes I wonder whether we used to go to markets to buy stuff or to have this delicacy. I can't remember having anything else in the market till I grew up and was introduced to Pizza from Nirula's. Those times were great when everything was not so expensive and the food was really delicious. No-fancy food, No-fancy restaurant, no-show-off stuff, and simple yet amazing living.