Tangy tamatari chole

Chole makes me nervous!! What?? Is the first question that’s going to flash your mind….Well that’s the laughable truth! My husband’s favourite is chole and there was a time when I liked it too. But when it came to cooking, I was never satisfied the way I prepared it. When the demand for chole would come I would search for recipes, make my own variation but in the end never really liked any of it. My failed attempt to recreate Delhi style chole is epic.

 One of my dear friend who happens to be my colleague gets awesome chole for lunch. We gang of girls at work are always in search of new recipes, would ask her about this awesome Chole and she would simple reply that her mother (our dear aunty) uses grounded tomatoes to make the gravy and everything else is the same with onions and ginger-garlic paste. I went by the word- onion- ginger-garlic- tomatoes and in spices only the chili powder and the result was super good chole- FINALLY !! So I succeeded and yes almost after 2 years I am satisfied with my chole. Husband was super happy with the chole and so was I. Thank you my darling friend for your recipe it is surely a keeper.

Tangy tamatari chole

Serves : 3 to 4 persons

Ingredients:

Chole- 1 ½  cup

Onions (medium) - 3 (finely chopped)

Tomatoes (medium) - 5 (roughly chopped)

Chili powder- 1 tbsp - 1 ½ tbsp

Turmeric powder- 1 tsp

Ginger-garlic paste- 2 tbsp

Shahi zeera- 2 tsp

Cinnamon- 1’’ inch

Coriander leaves- 3 tbsp (Finely chopped)

Sugar- 2 tsp (optional)

Oil- 2 tbsp

Salt to taste

Procedure: Soak chole for 6-8 hours. Then pressure cook chole with water, turmeric powder and salt till tender. Heat oil in a Kadhai, add sugar and once the sugar melts and cinnamon and shahi zeera. Let it splutter and add onions with salt. Cover and cook onions till they turn translucent. Meanwhile grind the chopped tomatoes into a fine paste. Then add ginger-garlic paste and fry it till the raw smell disappears. After that, add the grounded tomato paste and chili powder. Cook the masala well till the oil oozes out from the masala. After that add water (as per your desired gravy consistency), bring it to a boil and continue cooking the masala for another 15-20 minutes. Then add chole to the gravy and reserve around 3 tbsp of chole. Mash the remaining chole and add to the gravy. Check for the salt and spice level. Finally, add coriander leaves. Do garnish it with onions while serving.

Note:

This gravy is tangy, so if you don’t like it that way then you may reduce the tomato quantity or add some sugar to balance the tanginess.

Serve Tangy tamatari chole with rotis or paranthas.