Punjabi Chole Masala Recipe

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PREP TIME
9 hours
COOK TIME
45 mins
TOTAL TIME
9 hours 45 mins
Chole Masala or Chana Masala - Chole is a popular north indian curry. Chole
goes well with poori, bhatura, roti, naan or rice.
AUTHOR: dassana
RECIPE TYPE: curry
CUISINE: north indian
SERVES: 4-5

INGREDIENTS (measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml)

ingredients for pressure cooking:

1 cup chickpeas (garbanzo beans, white chickpeas, kabuli chana or chole
2.5 to 3 cups water for pressure cooking the chickpeas
2 to 3 dried amla or indian gooseberry (optional) or 1 black tea bag
tsp salt
ingredients for the masala gravy:
1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
1 medium sized tomato, finely chopped
2 to 3 small garlic cloves + inch ginger, crushed to a paste in a mortarpestle or tsp ginger-garlic paste
tsp turmeric powder/haldi

tsp red chili powder/lal mirch powder

tsp garam masala powder (optional)
to 1 tsp amchur powder/dry mango powder - optional and only to be
added when you do not have dry pomegranate seeds
2 to 3 green chilies, slit
1 to 1.25 cups water or the stock in which the chickpeas were cooked.
1.5 to 2 tbsp oil
salt as required
spices for the punjabi chole masala:
2 black cardamoms/elaichi
1 inch cinnamon/dalchini
3 to 4 peppercorns/sabut kali mirch
2 cloves/lavang
1 medium indian bay leaf/tej patta or 2 small tej patta
tsp carom seeds/ajwain
1 tsp cumin seeds/jeera
1 tsp coriander seeds/dhania
1 tsp fennel seeds/saunf
tsp dry pomegranate seeds/anardana
1 or 2 dry red chilies
for garnish:
some chopped coriander leaves/dhania patta
inch ginger/adrak, julienne
1 medium onion, sliced or chopped
1 medium tomato, sliced or chopped
1 lime/nimbu, sliced or quartered

INSTRUCTIONS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

rinse and soak the chole (chickpeas) in enough water overnight. add enough
amount of water as the chole increase in size after soaking it. rinse the soaked
chickpeas.
to give a dark color to the chana, traditionally dried amla (indian
gooseberries) are added. these also give a faint sourness to the stock. if you
do not have dried amla, then add 1 black tea bag.
in a pressure cooker add the chole along with the 3 to 4 dried amla pieces or
a tea bag. taj tea bags work very well. then add water
season with salt and pressure cook the chana for 18 to 20 whistles. the
chana should be cooked well an softened. the chole should be soft when you
mash it with a spoon. the chana should not give you a bite when you eat it.
In a pan, take all the whole spices for the chole masala mentioned above and
on a low heat begin to roast them.
stir often and roast the spices till they get extra browned. don't burn them.
you have to go beyond a point roasting them even after they become fragrant
and they get more browned than what is the norm usually.
let theses roasted spices cool and then grind them finely in a coffee grinder
or in a dry grinder.

8.

by now the chana will be cooked. you will see a darker brown shade in the
safed (white chana). remove the amla pieces which would have softened by
now or the tea bag from the stock.
9.
heat oil in a pan or kadai.add ginger-garlic paste and saute till their raw
aroma goes away.
10. then add chopped onions and saute till the onions turn translucent or light
brown.
11. add tomatoes & saute them till they soften and the oil starts to leave the
sides of the masala.
12. then add the powdered chole masala that we ground, along with the red chili
powder, turmeric powder & garam masala powder (optional).
13. stir the dry masala and then add slit green chilies
14. add the cooked chole. stir well.
15. add salt. then add about 1 to 1.25 cups of the stock in which the chana was
boiled. you can also water instead.
16. stir and cover the chana.
17. simmer on a low to medium flame. you can also cook without the lid. the
gravy will thicken and reduce. mash a few chana. this will help thicken the
gravy. simmer till you get the consistency you prefer. the consistency is not
thin, but medium consistency or dry.
18. in case, you have not added dry pomegranate seeds while roasting
the spices, then you need to add amchur powder (dry mango powder)
now.stir.
19. garnish chole masala with coriander leaves & ginger julienne.
20. serve the punjabi chole with kulchas, bhaturas, pooris, rotis, along with
sliced onions, tomatoes and lime. chole also tastes good with steamed rice or
jeera rice.
NOTES
if you don't have amchur or dried pomegranate seeds then add
lime or lemon juice toward the end.

kulcha recipe details below:

4.0 from 1 reviews

kulcha recipe

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PREP TIME
2 hours 15 mins
COOK TIME
30 mins
TOTAL TIME
2 hours 45 mins
kulcha - popular soft leavened north indian flat bread
AUTHOR: dassana
RECIPE TYPE: main
CUISINE: north indian
SERVES: 8-10 kulchas

INGREDIENTS (measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml)

2 and cups maida or all purpose flour

4 tbsp yogurt or (3 tbsp yogurt + 1 tbsp milk) i usedcashew curd
tsp baking powder
tsp baking soda
approx cup water for kneading - add more if required
2 to 2 & tsp sugar
tsp salt or as required
2 and tbsp oil or ghee
some oil or ghee or butter for frying
extra flour for dusting
a few nigella seeds

INSTRUCTIONS
1.
2.
3.

mix the maida or all purpose flour, salt, sugar, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl.
make a well in the center. add the curd, oil and water.
begin to mix the flour with the liquids first and then start to knead. make a smooth and
soft dough.
4.
in the same bowl or pan, cover the dough with a wet kitchen napkin and let the dough
ferment for 2 hours.
5.
make small balls of the dough. sprinkle some nigella seeds on the ball.
6.
with the rolling pin flatten the dough and roll each into a small sized kulcha.
7.
heat a griddle or a tava. place the kulcha on the tava.
8.
cook one side partly till its cooked. flip and cook the other side till its cooked.
9.
apply ghee or oil on both sides of kulcha whilst cooking.
10. cook the kulcha till it get golden spots and is evenly cooked. make all kulchas this way.
11. serve the kulcha hot or warm with chana or chole.
12. the kulchas can also be stacked in a roti basket and then served warm.
naan recipe without yeast on stove top

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PREP TIME
2 hours 20 mins
COOK TIME
30 mins
TOTAL TIME
2 hours 50 mins
easy naan recipe made without yeast
AUTHOR: dassana
RECIPE TYPE: main

CUISINE: indian
SERVES: 3-4

INGREDIENTS (measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml)

dry ingredients to be sieved:

3 cups flour (2 cups whole wheat flour/atta + 1 cup all purpose flour/maida
or half-half of both or just all purpose flour)
1.5 tsp baking powder
a pinch or tsp baking soda
salt as required
wet ingredients to be mixed:
3 tbsp yogurt/curd/dahi (dairy or vegan) i used cashew yogurt
2 tbsp milk (dairy or vegan) i used soy milk. can use cashew or almond milk
too
or cup water or as required
2 tsp sugar or organic unrefined cane sugar
additional ingredients:
3 tbsp oil for kneading in the dough
1 tbsp mix of onion seeds (kalonji) and melon seeds (magaz) or sesame
seeds
oil, ghee or butter as required for applying on the naan (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS
1.
2.
3.
4.

mix water, milk and yogurt. stir in the sugar in the above mixture.
sieve the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
mix the flour with the wet ingredients that we made first.
knead to make a smooth dough. if the dough looks dry then add some water
and knead again. the dough should be smooth and soft.
5.
cover with a wet cloth and keep aside for 10 minutes. after 10 minutes, add
oil and knead the dough again.
6.
cover with the same wet cloth and keep aside for 2 hours, till the dough
leavens and rises.
7.
make medium sized balls of the dough.
8.
roll in a small circle and sprinkle some onion seeds on the dough.
9.
roll into a four or five inches round circle.
10. if you want you can stretch the dough to one side to give a tear shape to the
naan.
11. on a hot tava or griddle, place the naan
12. partly cook both the sides of the naan on the tava.
13. then place the naan with the help of tongs on fire
14. and cook both the sides till they get browned and slightly charred.
15. when done then remove the naan and apply some butter, ghee or oil on the
naan. you can have them plain also.
16. alternatively, you can also cook the naan in a tandoor or bake them.
17. place the naan for baking on a greased hot tray or stone and bake in a
preheated oven at your ovens highest temperature.

18. serve the naan hot or warm with any paneer or vegetable curry or even with
dal.

ajwain paratha

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PREP TIME
20 mins
COOK TIME
30 mins
TOTAL TIME
50 mins
crisp, flaky whole wheat flat aromatic bread stuffed with ajwain (carom
seeds)
AUTHOR: dassana
RECIPE TYPE: breakfast
CUISINE: north indian
SERVES: 10-12 parathas

INGREDIENTS (measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml)

for the dough

2 cups whole wheat flour/atta
1 or 2 tsp oil or ghee
salt and water as required
for the paratha:
1 tbsp carom seeds/ajwain
oil or ghee as required
salt as required

INSTRUCTIONS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

mix the salt with the flour.

add the oil/ghee and some water.
knead into a smooth dough.
add some more water if required.
keep the dough covered for 15-20 minutes.
take a medium sized ball from the dough.
roll it into a small disc/round of about 3-4 inches in diameter.

8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

apply or brush oil or ghee on the surface.

sprinkle tsp or less of the ajwain seeds along with a pinch of salt
fold the dough as shown in the method above applying ghee or oil.
roll into a paratha of approx 6 to 7 inches diameter.
fry on a hot tava or griddle with a teaspoon of oil/ghee or more as required
till both sides become well browned.
13. serve ajwain paratha hot with some pickle or raita.
14. ajwain paratha can also be served with a side indian veggie dish.

lauki kofta recipe

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PREP TIME
30 mins
COOK TIME
30 mins
TOTAL TIME
1 hour
lauki kofta: a light tomato based curry dunked with koftas made from bottle
gourd.
AUTHOR: dassana
RECIPE TYPE: main
CUISINE: north indian
SERVES: 4 servings

INGREDIENTS (measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml)

for making the koftas:

2 cups grated lauki or ghia/bottle gourd or opo squash

31/2 to 4 tbsp besan/gram flour

tsp garam masala powder
tsp red chili powder/lal mirch powder
1 green chili/hari mirch, finely chopped
salt as required
oil for deep or shallow frying the koftas
for making the masala paste:
2 large tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 medium sized onion, roughly chopped
1 green chili, chopped
1 inch ginger/adrak, chopped
4-5 garlic/lahsun, chopped
2 tbsp broken cashews/kaju
rest of the ingredients:
1 tsp cumin/jeera
or tsp red chili powder/lal mirch powder
tsp turmeric powder/haldi
1 tsp coriander powder/dhania powder
or tsp punjabi garam masala powder or garam masala powder
1 cup water or as required
1.5 or 2 tbsp oil if using fresh oil
salt as required
sugar as required and optional

INSTRUCTIONS
1.
2.

rinse and peel the lauki/bottle gourd. grate it.

squeeze the grated lauki and collect the juice in a bowl or mug. keep the
juice aside.
3.
mix all the ingredients for making the koftas with the grated lauki except oi.
4.
make small round shaped balls or patties and shallow or deep fry in oil till
golden brown. drain on paper tissues.
5.
blend all the ingredients mentioned under masala paste with little or no
water to a smooth paste. don't add too much water as then the whole mixture
splutters while frying.
6.
remove extra oil from the frying pan in which the koftas were fried. keep
about 1.5 or 2 tbsp oil.
7.
heat the oil and first fry the cumin. then add the masala paste.
8.
fry for 8-10 mins and then add all the spice powders.
9.
stir and continue to fry the masala paste till it starts leaving oil from the
sides.
10. add the juice and about 1 cup water to the paste. stir and simmer for 10-12
minutes. lastly add the fried lauki kofta.
11. switch off the fire and let them be in the lauki curry for a few minutes.
12. garnish with coriander leaves and serve lauki kofta hot with rotis, naan or
jeera rice.