Chole Bhature is the name of the dish which brings sparkle in your eyes and makes you crave that. In India this dish is available at every restaurant menu. It is a favorite dish of North India and also a popular street food of Delhi. A fluffy deep-fried leavened bread served with spicy chickpea curry known as chole and accomplished with onion rings and pickles.
Chole and bhature both compliments each other. I guess chole can be tried with any other supplement, but not bhature. Bhatura tastes the best when it is dipped in the spicy chole gravy. For that matter chole and parantha, chole and poori may be acceptable but that zing is missing which you feel when there is bhatura. There is no specific time for eating chole bhature as it is a complete meal and you would hardly need anything apart from that.
When you see a puffed bhature take a bite with chole is a burst of flavor in mouth, hot at first, tangy after, and by the time you’ve swallowed, your mouth is dripping wet. There’s the onion, pungent and provocative. The achaar, tangy, and tantalizing. The chutney, dollops of it, each drop a stairway to heaven. It is a complete dish in itself but it also served with lassi. Lassi has a great combination with this dish as it aid as a digestion for this meal.
Though Bhatura is deep-fried food its dough is fermented so we do not mind eating it. And chole, as we all know, is protein packed. Bhature dough has to be mixed well, it is said it should be kept in a warm place covered with a wet cloth. When you roll it out the best way is to not roll it with a rolling pin but use both your hands to shape them. The heat should be enough so that the bhature is cooked properly and puffs like a ball and at the same time the heat should not be so much that the bhature gets over fried.
When you are boiling the chole for the gravy do keep salt and baking powder in a tea bag and place it in the pressure cooker. That would make the chole delicious. When you are served chole bhature have it instantly as the real fun is to have the crispy bhature when their shape is maintained.
Chole bhature is filled with a lot of calories and saturated fats. Chole is not that fattening but bhature are. Bhature is deep-fried and made from white flour (maida) which consists of lots of calories. As chole has fewer calories so try to use minimum oil while tempering the chole.
World Chola Bhature Day
Now India is World Chole Bhature Day on 2nd October it is celebrated. It was invented in 2013 by a Facebook community Eatlo about the various aspects of food by foodies all over India and some parts of the world. It is proud of Indians that a heart-throbbing dish gained popularity all over the world.
Read More : PART 1: NORTH INDIAN CUISINE
Punjabi Chole and Instant Bhature Recipe
Ingredients
Punjabi Chole
- Chickpeas 1 cup
- Oil 2 tbsp
- Bay Leaf 1
- Ginger 1 inch
- Garlic 4 clove
- Cardamom 3
- Onion 2
- Tomato 2
- Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
- Red chili powder 1/2 tsp
- Coriander powder 1 tsp
- Chole masala 1 tsp
- Salt as taste
- Water 1/2 cup
- Coriander leaves 1 tbsp
For Instant Bhature
- White Flour (maida) 1 cup
- Salt 1/2 tsp
- Sugar 1 tsp
- Curd 4 tbsp
- Soda Water 3/4 cup
- Oil 1 tbsp + deep frying
Method
For Punjabi Chole
- First, to make chole, soak the chickpea overnight insufficient water.
- In a pressure cooker, add oil.
- When its hot, add bay leaves,1″ grated Ginger, cloves, cardamom.
- Add chopped onion and tomato, sugar, and salt.
- Fry till it gets mushy.
- Add the spices.
- Mix this well and add water.
- Pressure cook on medium heat for 25 minutes.
- Once pressure released add coriander leaves.
For Instant Bhature
- In a large mixing bowl take white flour.
- Add salt, sugar, curd, oil and mix it well.
- Now pour soda water and knead a dough.
- Rest it for 15 minutes.
- Now heat the oil in the skillet.
- Make the small ball from the dough.
- Roll the ball and make it flat.
- Deep fry it becomes golden brown from both the sides.
- Serve it with Punjabi chole, onion, and pickle.
