Chole was the very first north Indian dish I started to crave. Since my mother did not cook chole at home, my taste for chole is entirely developed based on the street foods that I have eaten over the years. In my opinion, the finest chole is the bazaar food variety where the vendor typically makes the dish hot (spicy) with a tinge of sour taste. This unique taste comes from aamchur (dried mango powder). But the tricky part of chole is to cook the beans to the right texture with the correct moisture content. The best chole I ever had was from a very small shop in the main bazaar just opposite to the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The place is called “Bhai Kulwant Singh Kulchian Wale’ and it is very popular for its kulcha naan, but I found their chole was simply world class! Ever since then, I wanted to cook my own Amritsari chole and I think I finally did it.
Chole The Spicy Soul
To get the best flavor, it needs to be slow cooked. So here is a recipe for slow cooking.
You can make this as a completely vegan dish by simply substituting butter with a suitable vegetable oil. You can also make this dish gluten free, if you avoid the hing. Hing in its pure form is gluten free, but many vendors add wheat flour to reduce the intensity of its flavor.
Print Recipe
Amritsari Khatte Chole
Best Chole recipe! You can make this as a completely vegan dish by simply substituting butter with a suitable vegetable oil. You can also make this dish gluten free, if you avoid the hing. Hing in its pure form is gluten free, but many vendors add wheat flour to reduce the intensity of its flavor.
Soak the garbanzos overnight. Rinse the garbanzos thoroughly and pour them into the Inner Pot of the Instant Pot (IP). Add enough water (about 1.5 cup) to cover the garbanzos (water level should be just over the surface of the garbanzos). Add salt and the tea bag to the IP. In a tea infuser, add bay leaves, cinnamon, clove, pepper and green cardamom. Drop the infuser into the IP and make sure that it is immersed completely. Turn on the IP to 'slow cook' on ‘high.’ At this setting, the IP will keep the temperature around 210°F (99°C).
Wash the potato thoroughly and start to boil it with a pinch of salt. Once cooked, remove the skin and set it aside. Mash the potato thoroughly.
On a different skillet, heat the oil on high heat and add hing and cumin seeds to it. Add the onion. Fry the onion until it becomes golden brown and very soft.
Add butter, green chilies, and tomato sauce. Bring them all to a boil.
When they are thoroughly mixed, add red chile powder, turmeric powder, chole masala, garam masala, and coriander seed powder. Cook them well until the oil starts to separate. Then add the ginger and garlic paste to the mix. Continue to stir well.
Add the mashed potato to the spice mix and stir well. Bring it to a good boil.
Once well cooked, add this cooked mix to the garbanzos (ensure that the garbonzas have cooked at least for three hours) in the crockpot and cook (at least for another one hour) until it is all mixed well.
Once done, garnish with long cut onions, green chile split along the length and cilantro.
Optional (here is the Khatte part): If the chole masala has enough amchur (mango powder) in it, then it will already be somewhat sour. But if the cooked chole is not sour enough, and/or you prefer to make it more sour, then follow this additional step:
Put two tbsp of chopped onions, ½ tsp of salt, 1 tsp of chopped green chili, some ginger and lemon juice (from one half of a lemon). Mix well. Set aside.
Add this mixture to the Chole (in the IP) during the final stages of chole. Mix it thoroughly.
