Delhi-Style Chole | Instant-Pot Friendly Chickpea Curry!
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What is Chole?
Chole translates to “chickpeas.” “Chole masala” refers to a chickpea curry, where “masala” translates to the gravy made with spices. Chole masala is the marriage of boiled chickpeas in a flavourful tomato gravy with traditional Indian whole and ground spices. Chole masala is a very popular dish in India because it’s an excellent vegetarian protein source! When you can make some good chole, you’ve got plenty of options for a healthy balanced meal!
about this Delhi-Style Chole Recipe
There are quite a few variations of chole masala. You’ve got homestyle versions and you’ve got street-style. This recipe will be my take on the classic Delhi-style chole masala. This iconic dish is my favourite way to enjoy chole, and it’s been such a long time in the making! I’ve finally managed to recreate those wonderful flavours that are heavenly in street-style chole! Even if you’ve never had Delhi-style chole, you’re sure to love this, and if you know what I’m talking about, then this will truly take you to the streets of Delhi right at home!
What’s the difference betwen homestyle chole and Delhi-style chole?
Last year I shared my Homestyle Chole Masala recipe. To be honest with you, today’s recipe is actually the version I wanted to share first, but I still needed to refine the colour and flavours to bring the most authentic Delhi-Style Chole Masala! What I enjoyed on the streets was my favourite version of chole growing up in Delhi. The first main difference is the colour. If you check out the homestyle chole masala recipe, the gravy is much redder. Furthermore, it’s less tangy than the Delhi-style chole. In Hindi, there’s a phrase called “chatpata.” There’s no direct translation for this other than spicy & tangy! We’ve got much more pungent and bold flavours in this Delhi-style chole. We also use tamarind in the homestyle chole Both are excellent in their own way, but my preference is the Delhi-style version! Let me know in the comments which you prefer!
Do I need to soak the chickpeas?
Yes, you really do. You may have seen that in my Instant Pot Rajma Masala recipe, you can get away without soaking the red kidney beans, or rajma. However, cooking chickpeas that haven’t been soaked can potentially cause digestive issues, such as gas and bloating (source: Livestrong). To save your gut, please plan accordingly and soak your chickpeas!
What if I forgot to soak my chickpeas?
Okay, fair enough. We’re all human! When I was first testing this recipe, it was too late for me to soak my chickpeas. If you’ve got the extra hour or two to spare, you can bypass soaking your chickpeas by boiling them in hot water. However, for best results, soaking is best!
Can I Use Canned Chickpeas?
While technically you can, you will not get a dish that looks similar to what I have presented. Mainly because the canned chickpeas are cooked already. Cooking them for too much longer with the spices and tea might have some effect, but not the full effect. Plus, you risk turning the chickpeas to mush.
How to get the dark brown colour
The magic of the lovely brown colour of the Delhi-style chole comes from the black tea we’ll use! You can use whole tea leaves or powdered black tea, as I’ll be using in this recipe. You really can’t achieve the iconic street-style chole without it!
Tips For Making a Great Delhi-Style chickpea curry
Plan ahead and soak the beans overnight before cooking.
To speed up the soaking process, boil the chickpeas for 1 hour and then pressure cook them using the steps directed in the recipe.
Ensure the bouquet garni is well sealed.
For a darker colour on the chickpeas, you’ll need to add more tea while the chickpeas are pressure cooking. The tea will stain the chickpeas and the water while they’re cooking. Use 4 Tbsp for a darker color and 2 Tbsp for a lighter share of brown.
Reserve the cooking water for the chickpeas, it contains a lot of flavour and provides the classic colour we all love in chole masala.
The base flavour of this curry comes from the “masala” that we cook with the onions, ginger, garlic and tomatoes. Make sure that you cook the masala well, until reddish brown and almost dried out.
This dish uses more than usual amount of spices, so don’t be alarmed. This is after all similar to a street style experience.
Ingredients for Delhi-style Chole
Let’s review what we’ll need for our Delhi-Style Chickpea Curry.
Remember, the FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD for all ingredient quantities and step by step instructions. You can save the recipe for later, and it’s so easy to scale the ingredient quantities based on how many portions of chickpeas you want to make!
Chickpeas: Chickpeas are the star of our dish! Ensure that they have been soaking overnight prior to cooking or have boiled for 1-2 hours if you forgot to soak your chickpeas.
Black tea: You can use tea leaves or powdered black tea. This is a must to stain our chickpeas, and it will provide a lot of flavour.
Whole spices: Cinnamon stick, cloves, bay leaf, dried Kashmiri red chilies, whole black peppercorn, shah jeera (caraway seeds), dried pomegranate seeds.
Ground Spices: Chana masala, deggi mirch, turmeric, and salt to taste.
Essentials: Garlic cloves, ginger, onions, tomatoes, green chilies.
Ghee: Used sauté the ingredients to make our masala.
Onions: We’ll have extra raw sliced onions for garnish.
Lime: Sliced in wedges, for garnish and to squeeze on lime juice when serving.
You may have seen other recipes use gooseberry or amla. It’s not easy to find here in Canada, and I figured my North American audience may also have difficulty finding it. Trust me, I don’t think you’re missing out by omitting it, but if you do have access for it, then by all means include it!
Furthermore, many recipes use pomegranate seeds, but to make things convenient for me, I used dried pomegranate seeds. Again, use whatever is best for you!
How to Make authentic street-style Chickpea curry
To prepare the chickpeas
Stovetop Pressure Cooker
Place all the whole spices for the chickpeas in the centre of a muslin cloth. Make sure the cloth is at least 3-4 layers thick. Add the tea leaves as well and then tie a knot. You can also use a kitchen string to tie it.
Add chickpeas to stovetop pressure cooker and add around 3-4 times the volume of water, along with the bundle of spices from earlier.
Season with salt, add the ginger-garlic paste and cook for 2-3 whistles on high heat, then turn down the heat to medium and cook for 15-20 minutes.
Let the pressure release naturally.
Place all the whole spices for the chickpeas in the center of a muslin cloth. Make sure the cloth is at least 3-4 layers thick. Add the tea leaves as well and then tie a knot. You can also use a kitchen string to tie it.
Add chickpeas to the Instant Pot and add 3/4 to 1 quarts of water along with the bundle of spices from earlier.
Season with salt add the ginger-garlic paste and set the Instant Pot to Bean and Chilli mode and cook for 30 minutes.
Let the pressure release naturally (about 20 minutes).
To prepare the curry
Heat ghee in a wok/pan on medium heat and add the caraway seeds. Cook until the shahi jeera/caraway seeds turn reddish brown and aromatic.
Add the onions and saute until the onions become soft and translucent, making sure to stir ever so often.
Once the onions turn slightly brown, add in the tomatoes and cook while stirring until they start to break down. Add all of the dried spices and 1-2 tsps of salt. Keep stirring from time to time.
Add a splash of water at any stage if the mixture starts to stick to the pan. Once this masala feels fluffy, slides around the pan easily and has released some of the oil, add the cooked chickpeas, along with the cooking liquid. Discard the bundle of spices.
Season with salt and simmer on medium low heat until the gravy starts to thicken. Reduce the consistency to your preference, traditionally delhi style chole has a very thick gravy.
When the gravy is ready serve with a sliced red onions, green chiles and lime if desired
How to Serve Chickpea CUrry
The most famous combo on the streets is chole bhature, and as you can see in the video below, that’s exactly what I replicated when preparing this Delhi-Style Chole! Bhature are huge fluffy breads, made with semolina and all-purpose flour, and they are deep fried in vegetable or peanut oil. It was only my second time ever making bhature, but I think I did a decent job! The hard part is to get the bhature to rise!
You could also serve this Delhi-Style Chole with puris. Puris are similar to to bhature, but they are made with atta flour and they are much smaller. Furthermore, they’re fried in ghee instead of oil. I actually really love the combo of puris and chole, so I definitely need to make this again and enjoy with puris soon!
Another excellent bread option is kulche. I’ve never made kulche at home before but really would love to give it a shot! Kulche is actually one of my favourite breads, and I really have no idea when I last had it! Kulche is made with flour over a tawa pan, so it’s an easy lower-fat alternative to the previously mentioned breads. Another delicious bread that’s low in fat that you could pair with this Delhi-Style Chole is Homestyle Roti! Rotis are made with atta flour, and they are puffy breads made over the tawa! No ghee or oil required!
Finally, if you want an extra side or don’t want to eat bread, then you could of course serve your chole with simple basmati rice. Check out How to Make the Best Basmati Rice for tips and tricks on achieving that perfect fluffy rice - either boiled or steamed!
Other indian Bean & Grain Recipes
WATCH HOW TO MAKE Desi-Style Chole Masala HERE:
Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments! If you’ve tried this recipe, be sure to post it on social media and tag it with #cookingwithanadi and mention me @cookingwithanadi. Thank you!