Choley is a Punjabi dish that is famously made in North India and in Pakistan. Choley batture is a staple in the streets of Delhi. One can have this anytime of the day, eat it as a heavy breakfast, lunch or dinner. There are many variations of this dish but choley basically means Kabuli chana (white chickpeas) so that remains the same. It is never made with kala chana. Then how is it dark in color, you ask? Two words – Tea leaves. The chana is soaked overnight with a tea bag and also cooked along with it. Here I have not soaked it with a tea bag but have pressure cooked it with one of my favorite brand of masala tea bag. If you dont have a masala tea bag, you can also use a regular tea bag. This recipe is not very authentic and is made by me being inspired by many variations of this particular dish. Variations like Amritsari choley, Pindi choley, Khattey choley so on and so forth. So this recipe is a mish mash of these variations, made to my taste. Even though one can have choley with batture, naan, kulcha, poori or even white rice, I find my all time favorite pairing is with batture. Served with a few slices of raw onions marinated in lime juice and maybe a green chilli to bite into.

Ingredients: For Choley

• Kabuli chana (chickpeas) – 2 Cups (heaped)
• Masala tea bag- 1
• Bay leaf- 1 big
• Green cardamom- 4
• Black cardamom- 2 (optional)
• Cinnamon stick- 1- 2 Inch
• Cloves- 4
• Onions- 3 medium sized
• Tomatoes- 2 medium sized
• Tomato paste- 1Tbsp (optional)
• Dried pomegranate seeds (anardana)- 3 Tbsp
• Cumin- 1Tbsp +1 Tsp
• Garlic- 6 pods
• Ginger- 2 inch
• Green chillies- 3 -4 (as per taste)
• Red chilli powder- 1 Tsp
• Turmeric- 1/2 Tsp
• Garam masala powder- 1/2 Tsp
• Kasuri methi- 1 Tsp (optional)
• Cilantro (coriander) leaves- to garnish (optional)
• Salt to taste
• Oil- 3 Tbsp

Method:

1. Soak kabuli chana overnight and then cook in a pressure cooker along with a masala tea bag, till soft. I find 1-2 whistles on high flame then 20 minutes on low flame cooks it perfectly. Discard the used masala tea bag.
2. Dry roast 1 Tbsp cumin seeds and 3 Tbsp anardana and grind along with a little bit of salt to a fine powder.
3. In a large pan heat oil and add the whole spices (Bay leaf, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon) along with 1 Tsp cumin seeds. Once they start to splutter add finely chopped onions. Fry well with a little bit of salt.
4. Once the onions start turning translucent add finely chopped garlic, ginger and green chillies and fry well till the onions start to brown. This should be done on a medium heat so as not to burn the onions but brown them well.
5. Add turmeric powder and red chilli powder fry a bit then add the tomato paste (if using).
6. Add finely chopped tomatoes and stir well. Fry till it mashes up well with the onions and becomes a paste. Add a little bit of water and cook till the masala dries up a bit. Do this twice. At this point take out the whole spices.
7. Add the cooked kabuli chana along with sufficient cooked liqueur . Mix well with the masala and mash a few of the chana with the spatula while mixing. Bring to a boil.
8. Cover and cook for 10 minutes on a medium heat.
9. Sprinkle garam masala powder and the dry roasted powder. Mix well and adjust the salt.
10. Add kasuri methi and garnish with chopped cilantro leaves.
11. Serve with raw sliced onions (marinated in lime juice) and green chillies. Enjoy with batura, naan or even kulcha.

Ingredients: For Batture

• Yogurt – 1 C
• Salt- 1/2 Tsp
• Baking soda- 1/4 Tsp
• Maida (all purpose flour)- As needed (around 3-4 C)
• Oil – For deep frying

Method:

1. In a deep bowl mix yogurt, salt and baking soda.
2. To this add maida a little at a time. Add, mix and knead till it forms a dough ball and doesn’t stick to the hands or the edges as much. I use approximately around 3 to 4 cups of maida for 1 cup of yogurt. This quantity depends on the thickness of the yogurt and the water content in it. So it varies accordingly. Knead well.
3. Cover with a slightly wet paper towel and then a lid. Keep in a warm area to rise for about 6-8 hours or even overnight.
4. Portion the dough to smaller doughballs depending on how big or small you like your batture.
5. Dust with a little bit of maida and roll to the desired size. It should be slightly thicker than puris.
6. Heat oil in a kadai for deep frying and once the oil is sufficiently hot, carefully drop the batture in and fry well on both sides. Turning once.
7. Drain the excess oil on a paper towel and serve hot- warm with choley.

Notes:

• I have used wagh bakri brand of masala tea bag in this recipe and find this particular brand of teabag the best suited for my taste. This is just a recommendation, if you have a favorite brand of teabag please use that.
• While making Choley I have used whole spices in the masala and then opted to take them out at a later stage. If you find it tedious to pick out the spices please feel free to make a bouquet garni (sachet of spices) and use this either while pressure cooking the chana or in the masala as I have done. I find it better to fry them in oil along with the onions and tomatoes than cook them with the chana.
• Cook the chana with water just sufficient enough to cook the chana well. Use the cooked liqueur sparingly, just enough for the gravy to be slightly thick. The mashing of the chickpeas while stirring and the dry roasted anardana and cumin powder make the gravy super thick. So adjust the consistency of the gravy accordingly.