Best Easy Amritsari Chole Recipe

Authentic Amritsari chole masala for kulcha. This chole recipe is straight from the streets of Amritsar, so so delicious, comforting and flavorful curry that will leave you wanting for more.

This is my treasured recipe that I learnt and perfected during the quest of making perfect chole after our trip to Amritsar. The delicious Amritsari chole kulche we tasted there was oh so good and this one comes so close those classics.

Soft, melt in mouth perfectly cooked white chickpeas or kabuli chana in a heady spice loaded masala or curry is perfect for those nippy evenings with bhature or kulche. Vegan and gluten free!

Whenever we dine in a Punjabi dhaba I always get a chole masala and kulcha. Just like how I judge a north Indian restaurant with their palak paneer or paneer butter masala, a good dhaba should serve a good chole kulcha for me.

On days when we can’t go to dhaba, I bring dhaba to home by whipping out a big bowl of this curry and some super flaky butter kulchas or aloo kulchas or bhatura.

White chickpeas or kabuli chana are one of the healthiest legumes and a wonderful source of vegan or plant based protein.

It is one of the very widely used ingredients in Indian cooking. Few popular chickpea recipes added in the blog are palak chana, roasted chickpeas, chana aloo, vegan chickpea curry recipes.

Here in this recipe, we are using chickpeas in a robust Indian curry base and served with Indian breads like kulcha, paratha, aloo paratha etc.

What Is Amritsari Chole?

It is a traditional curry recipe with chickpeas from Amritsar, Punjab. It is made with a special flavorful spice blend made of select whole spices.

This curry has unique flavor, distinct dark color and a wonderful taste. In Amritsar, this is super popular especially street side joints with kulcha, an Indian flatbread that is soft and flaky.

One common concern I often hear from my readers as well as friends who try Amritsari chole recipe at home is that they are unable to get that dark color.

Well, to get that dark color in chickpeas you have to add either dried amla (Indian gooseberry) or tea bags while cooking chickpeas.

Traditionally dried amla is only used and I have used the same here. Dried amla not only impart dark color, but also lends a wonderful tart flavor to the chickpeas.

If you don’t have dried amla, you can use 2-3 plain black tea bags. If you use tea bags, the color will be there but the flavor will be missing.

Please refer to the step by step photos to see the change in the color of the chickpeas after boiling with dried amla.

While boiling chickpeas we also add few whole spices that imparts a lovely flavor to the chickpeas.

The base of this curry is onion and tomatoes cooked in the flavorful chole masala powder along with few other common spice powders like turmeric powder, red chili powder.

The finished curry is garnished with loads of ginger jullienes that adds a wonderful flavor and punch to this curry.

This curry tastes wonderful when served hot with breads like kulcha, naan, bhatura or paratha. This is one of those delicious restaurant style chole masala recipe. This curry is

very close to the ones from the streets of Amritsar

perfect with flaky kulchas or bhatura

just like Punjabi restaurant style ones

vegan and gluten free

Robust, flavorful and delicious.

What Is Chole Masala Powder

Chole masala powder is a blend of select whole spices used specifically for making chickpea curries in India. It is very widely available in stores but the flavor and taste of homemade is unparalleled.

I make this spice powder and store in freezer so that the flavor remains potent. The spices and their proportion added may vary from place to place and I am sharing the way I make.

You can make a large batch of and store in airtight containers.

Always roast whole spices in low flame. Roasting spices releases the essential oils and increases the flavor.

In a heavy pan dry roast the following spices in low flame.

3 black cardamoms and 4 green cardamoms.

Cool and grind to a coarse powder. Store in airtight containers. You can use this to make 2-3 batches of this curry.

Preparation For Chole

Pick, rinse and soak chickpeas kabuli chana in 6 cups of water for 8-12 hours.

Rinse the soaked chana thoroughly and drain the excess water.

Add them to a pressure cooker.

Also add 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2-3 pieces of dried amla or 2 black tea bags, 3 small green cardamom and 1/2 inch cinnamon stick.

Pour 5 cups of water to it. Close the pressure cooker and pressure cook the chickpeas for 20-25 minutes or 12 whistles in medium heat. If you are using an instant pot set the timer for 25 minutes in pressure cook or manual mode with pressure valve sealed.

Once done, drain the kabuli chana in a large colander and retain the stock or the water from the pressure cooker. Discard the bay leaves, cinnamon, cardamom and amla or tea bags. Notice the color change in chickpeas after cooking, it is almost black due to amla.

while the chana are cooking, finely chop or mince 2 large onions, 3 large tomatoes, 3 garlic cloves and 1 inch ginger. Also slit 2-3 green chilies. You can add one green chilli if you prefer.

How To Make Amritsari Chole Recipe

Heat ghee or oil in a heavy pan. I have used mustard oil here. Once the oil is hot, add cumin seeds, bay leaf and onion finely chopped.

Once the onions turn a bit golden brown add minced ginger garlic and slit green chillies. I have added freshly grated turmeric here. If you are using regular turmeric powder add along with spice powders. Saute well for 2 minutes

Add the finely chopped tomatoes and mix.

Now add the red chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder, turmeric powder, 1/2 teaspoon amchur or dry mango powder and 3 tablespoons of prepared chole masala powder.

Saute well and cook until tomatoes are thoroughly cooked and leaves oil from the sides. This is the base onion tomato masala for chole. See the colour of the masala is almost black due to the addition of chole masala powder.

Add 2 cups of water or the reserved stock and bring the masala to a boil. You can one more cups of water if you prefer a thin curry.

Now add the cooked chickpeas to the onion tomato masala.

Add salt to taste and mix.

Cover and simmer the chole masala curry for 8-12 minutes in low heat. Once done, throw in the chopped coriander leaves and ginger juliennes. Mix well and remove from flame.

Serve the chana masala hot with more julienned ginger, finely chopped raw onions and lemon wedges.

Expert Tips

You have to cook the chickpeas really well for proper taste. Also undercooked chickpeas may cause indigestion. So it is very important to soak and cook the chickpeas very well.

The texture of this curry is not very smooth. Do not puree the tomatoes and also grind the amritsari chole masala powder coarsely.

Adding whole spices while cooking chickpeas imparts a wonderful flavor. So do skip them.

I do not prefer to add baking soda while cooking chickpeas. Properly soaked channa cooks well by itself. If you prefer or used to cook chickpeas with baking soda, you can add a pinch along with salt.

Adding dried amla or tea bags is a must if you are particular about the dark colour of the chole. If they both are unavailable you can tie loose black tea leaves in a small muslin cloth and add it.

Please note that you can absolutely make this chole recipe without tea bags or amla. The color of the curry will be light but the taste will be the same.

Reserve the water after cooking the chickpeas and add it to adjust the consistency of the curry. It is full of flavors.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make this punjabi chole masala with canned chickpeas?

Yes, if dried chickpeas are unavailable, you can easily use canned chickpeas. Drain them from the can and boil with whole spices and tea bags for 10 minutes. Use in the recipe.

Can I make this Amritsari chole recipe with black chickpeas?

Yes, just boil it until soft and use.

Is this recipe vegan?

Yes, the recipe as such I have shared here is vegan and gluten free. However you can use ghee to cook the masala instead of oil if you like.

Secret to restaurant style Amritsari chole?

One secret ingredient that sets apart chole masala recipe is anardana or dried pomegranate seeds. They impart a very unique tart, tangy and very slightly sweetish taste that is synonymous to chole masala.

while making amritsari chole masala powder at home we always add it. If you are using store bought masala powder, flavor of anardana may not be that strong. In that case you can add 1 tablespoon anardana along with other masala powders.

Can I Skip whole Spices?

Whole spices like bay leaves, cinnamon stick added while cooking chickpeas lend a wonderful flavor to this curry and highly recommend them. If you do not have them then increase the amount of garam masala powder in curry by another 1 teaspoon.

Is this curry healthy?

Chana or chole as it is known in India, chickpeas or garbanzo beans are one of the healthiest legumes. It is a very significant source for plant based protein.

They are rich in vitamins minerals and fibre.

It is one of the most sought after ingredient in vegan and vegetarian diet.

More Delicious Curry Recipes

Aloo Gobi Matar

Sarson ka saag

Aloo masala for poori

chickpeas pumpkin curry

I hope you will try this chole recipe and enjoy as much as we did. Please give a star rating ★ in the recipe card below. Follow us on Pinterest , Instagram, Facebook   for more recipes and ideas.