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Amritsari Chole Masala | Chickpea Dark Curry

Amritsari Chole Masala is an authentic Punjabi style dark chole curry recipe that is paired with Amritsari kulcha, bhatura or roti.
Prep Time40 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Course: Main Course, Side Dish, Soup
Cuisine: Indian
Keyword: Chole
Servings: 4
Author: ramyaanagu

Equipment

  • Instant Pot Mini
  • Pressure Cooker

Ingredients

For Channa preparation

  • 2.5 cups dried chickpeas soaked overnight or 4-6 hours
  • 3-4 Tbsp oil
  • 2 nos mini potatoes
  • 2 nos black tea bags regular black tea bags
  • 2 tsp turmeric powder divided
  • Salt to taste

for the chickpea gravy

  • 1 tsp Funnel seeds
  • 2 green chillies chopped
  • 3-4 cloves garlic grated
  • 1 tsp ginger grated
  • 1 large or 2 medium sized red onions finely chopped
  • 4 to matoes finely chopped
  • 2 tsp coriander powder
  • 3 tsp cumin powder
  • ½ tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp pomegranate powder

Fresh Masala Powder

  • 3 tsp Coriander seeds
  • 1 Tbsp Cumin seeds
  • 2 pods Cardamom
  • 2 tsp Black pepper corns
  • 1/2 tsp Cloves
  • 3-4 small piece Cinnamon -
  • 1/2 tsp white pepper corns

for garnish

  • Fresh coriander chopped
  • Fried green chilis

Instructions

Cooking Chole/Channa/Chickpea

  • Wash and soak chickpea for 4-6 hrs. Do not discard soaked water, use it to cook the and the chickpeas.
  • I used my Instant-pot in Bean/Chilli mode for cooking the chickpeas. It takes about 40 minutes + 20 minute cool down time. It is fool-proof method and I usually prefer to cook it this way.
  • Add turmeric powder, 2 teabags, small potatoes, salt and cook it until done.
  • If you are using a pressure cooker,add the chickpeas, 4-5 cups of water, tea bags, 1 tsp turmeric powder and salt. Pressure cook the chickpeas for 4-5 whistles or until done.
  • Let the pressure release naturally. Open and remove and discard the tea bags. You will notice the channa/chole has a nice dark brown color.

Chole Gravy

  • While pressure cooking the chickpeas, start making the gravy in another pan.
  • Dry roast all the ingredients on the Masala list and ground to a fine powder. This in my opinion adds a lot of flavor to the dish.so do not skip it if you can.
  • In a heavy bottom pan heat the remaining 2 tbsp oil in a pan. I usually use my Cast Iron wok.
  • Add the funnel seeds and when the seeds start to sputter, add slit green chilies. Remove chilies when its fried. I use it as garnish ( this is optional)
  • ginger and garlic. Sauté for a minute, to flavor the oil.
  • Add the chopped onions. Sauté for 4-5 minutes, till the onions start to turn brown. Add the puréed tomatoes, salt, sugar, all the spices and pomegranate seeds water. Mix well and cook covered for 5 minutes.
  • Add the cooked chickpeas along with the water they are cooked in to the gravy and simmer on low for 15 minutes till the gravy is thick.
  • Garnish with fresh coriander and julienne ginger. Amritsari chole go best with kulcha or bhature but you can serve them with any of the flat Indian breads or basmati rice.