Chole Recipe (Punjabi Chole Masala)
Apr 24, 2023
Chole Masala is a popular North Indian curry made with chickpeas and a lot of spices including a special spice mix. This Punjabi chole is best enjoyed with rice, bhatura or parathas!
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Punjabi Chole Masala is one of the most popular vegetarian curry dishes in India. It is a chickpea curry cooked with onions, tomatoes and lots of spices. Chole is one of those core curries in northern India without which no party or wedding festivities is complete. I remember whenever we would call someone over for lunch or dinner, mom would almost always make chole (or rajma or dal makhani).
Chole is often enjoyed with bhatura (a deep fried bread). Chole bhature and chole chawal aka chole with rice is a very popular food combination and you would often find roadside carts selling plates of chole chawal in Delhi and around.
What is Chole?
Chole refers to an Indian chickpeas curry, especially popular in northern parts of India. Chole is made with soaking chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans) overnight and then cooking them with onions, tomatoes and spices to make this really flavorful curry. There are many ways in which you can make chole, and there’s no really right or wrong way of making them.
Some people make chole without tomatoes, some make them without onions. Some people use basic spices in their chole while others use “chole masala” which is a special blend of spices. No two houses in India will probably have the same recipe for chole. I know they were made differently in my house compared to how they were made in my husband’s house. But the base of the dish remains the same.
My husband loves chole, well that’s a given since he is a Punjabi. So after I got married I really tried to master making Punjabi Chole and after lots of trials and errors, I think I found the perfect recipe. Now, my husband feels that I make the best chole, maybe he’s just biased but at least that makes me pretty confident about this recipe. I can guarantee that if you love a good Punjabi style Chole Masala, you are going to love this recipe!
Ingredients
Raw Chickpeas: to make authentic Punjabi chole, you need to start with raw chickpeas. Sure, you can make the recipe with canned chickpeas but it won’t have the same texture. I highly recommend using raw chickpeas and then soaking them overnight before using in the recipe.
Spices (whole & ground): this chole masala recipe uses a lot of ground as well as whole spices like bay leaf, cardamom, cinnamon, cumin etc. There is also a special blend of spices known as “chole masala or chana masala powder” that is used in this recipe. You can find this spice mix at Indian grocery stores or I have shared a quick recipe to make it at home below.
Ginger garlic paste: you can use either homemade ginger garlic paste or store bought. Homemade is recommended for maximum flavor.
Tomatoes & onions: these make the base of this chole masala. The onions need to be very finely chopped or grated for this recipe and the tomatoes need to be pureed.
Black tea bags: you might notice an unusual ingredient in the form of black tea bags in this recipe. The tea bags are used only to give chole a dark color, they add nothing to the taste. You can skip them if you don’t care about the color of the chole. You can even use dried amla (gooseberry) to get this dark color.
How to Make Chole – Step by Step Instructions
1- Soak raw chickpeas overnight in enough water to cover them. I soaked 2 cups of raw chickpeas and in the morning I had around 5 cups of it. Drain the water in which the chickpeas were soaked.
2- Transfer the chickpeas to a stovetop pressure cooker and add the following:
- 2 bay leaves
- 5 green cardamom pods
- 1-inch cinnamon stick
- 4 to 5 whole black peppercorns
- 2 black tea bags (these are added to give chole a darker color, skip if you don’t care about the color).
3- Add around 5 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of salt.
4- Stir and close the lid of the pressure cooker. Pressure cook at high heat for 1 to 2 whistles. After that, lower the heat to medium and let the chickpeas cook for another 10 to 12 minutes. Then turn off the heat and let the pressure release naturally.
5-.Remove the cooker from heat and allow it to cool down. Once the steam is gone, open the cooker and check the chickpeas. You should be able to press them easily with your fingers. If not, close the cooker and cook for 2 more whistles. Remove the tea bags from the cooker and also remove the bay leaves and cinnamon stick using a pair of tongs. Set this aside and start working on the masala.
6- Heat a pot or kadai on medium heat. Once hot, add 1 to 1 & 1/2 tablespoons of oil to it. Then add 2 whole cloves and 3/4 cup grated onions to the pot.
7- Fry the onions until the raw smell goes away and they are light golden brown in color, this takes around 7 to 8 minutes.
8- Add 2 teaspoons of ginger garlic paste and cook for 2 minutes until the raw smell goes away.
9- Now, add 2 & 1/2 cups of tomato puree (from 4 medium tomatoes/around 435 grams) and stir.
10- Cover the pot and cook the tomatoes for around 15 minutes on medium-low heat, stir every 2 to 3 minutes in between. This step in my opinion is very important. The tomatoes need to be cooked really well until the raw smell goes away completely. So have patience and let them cook for around 15 minutes.
11- Once the tomatoes are cooked, add the spices:
- 3 teaspoons chole masala
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder (use Kashmiri red chili powder for less heat)
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 3/4 teaspoon cumin powder
- and 1/2 teaspoon salt (adjust to taste, remember we already added 1 teaspoon salt while boiling the chickpeas).
12- Stir and cook the spices for 1 to 2 minutes.
13- Add the boiled chickpeas (along with the water in which they were boiled) to the pan now and stir until the chickpeas are well combined with the rest of the masala. Add an extra 1/2 cup water and then cover the pan and let it simmer on medium-low heat for around 30 minutes. Simmering on how heat is what will give this chole so much flavor!
The gravy will thicken after 30 minutes so add water accordingly. I do not like thin gravy with chole but if you do, add more water than what is mentioned in the recipe. Mash some of the chickpeas with the back of the ladle/spatula while they are simmering.
14- After 30 minutes the gravy, chickpeas and all the spices would have mixed well together. We can now do the tempering. Heat 1 tablespoon of ghee in a small pan. Once hot, add ginger juliennes (from 1-inch ginger) to it. Fry until the juliennes are golden brown in color but do not burn them.
15- Add to the chole curry, mix and switch off the flame.
16- Lastly, add 1/4 teaspoon garam masala, 1/2 tablespoon crushed kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves) and 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro. Stir everything, garnish the chole with more cilantro if you like and serve hot.
Serving Suggestions
Serve with bhatura (it’s the best) roti, tandoori roti or plain rice. You can also serve it with any grain of choice like quinoa, couscous etc. As I mentioned above, chole-bhature and chole-chawal (chole & plain rice) are very popular combinations in North India and it’s hard to beat these combos! If you would ask my husband, he would say that chole should be eaten only with bhatura or rice and nothing else.
How to Make Chole in Instant Pot
To make this recipe in the instant pot, soak chickpeas overnight and then pressure cook with whole spices, salt and black tea bags for 20 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally. Do the step of making the masala on the stovetop for that deep chole flavor.
You can do everything in one-pot too, in which case you will cook the masala first, then add the soaked chickpeas to the pot and pressure cook for 30 to 35 minutes. I like the convenience of one-pot cooking but for a nice Punjabi style chole, do make the masala separately and let the chole simmer on low heat. Trust me, it makes a difference.
Homemade Chole Masala Powder/Chana Masala Powder
This Punjabi chole recipe uses a special blend of spices known as chole masala or chana masala. It might be confusing since the name of the spice blend and the dish is the same!
You can find this spice blend easily at Indian grocery stores however if you can’t find it or want to make it at home, here’s a quick recipe for homemade chole masala powder.
- 2 tablespoons coriander seeds
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon dried pomegranate seeds
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorn
- 2 black cardamoms
- 8 cloves
- 3-4 dried red chilies
- 2-inch cinnamon stick
- 1 teaspoon ginger powder
Dry roast all the whole spices (except ginger powder) in a pan on medium heat until the spices are fragrant and become light golden in color, around 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and let the spices cool down. Then transfer the toasted spices to a spice grinder and also add the ground ginger. Grind until the spices are powdered and well combined. Store this masala in an airtight container and use as needed.
Expert Tips
- Use good quality and fresh ingredients: using quality spices make a difference to the taste of the final product. I also recommend using homemade ginger garlic paste for maximum flavor.
- Cook the tomatoes for the time mentioned: I know it might sound like a lot (15 minutes) but do cook the tomatoes for the amount of time mentioned in the recipe. It is important for the flavor of the chole.
- Simmer on low for 30 minutes: after the spices, chickpeas and the masala have mixed well together, lower the flame and let the chole simmer for 30 minutes. This helps deepen the flavor. You absolutely should not skip this step. Your chole will taste even better the next day!
- Mash some of the chickpeas as the chole simmers: using the back of your spatula, mash some of the chickpeas while the chole are simmering. This thickens the chole and also adds to the flavor and texture of the curry.
Frequently Asked Questions
The black tea bags that are added only give the chole a nice dark and deep color. They have no impact on the taste whatsoever. If you don’t want to use tea bags for color, you can also use dried amla (Indian gooseberry).
The two are often used interchangeably, however chole usually refers to Punjabi style chickpea curry and it’s a term more popular in northern parts of India while chana masala is more of generic term for any spiced chickpea curry.
Yes, you may. In that case, you would not need to not do the step of pressure cooking the chickpeas. Start by making the masala and go from there. Chole made from raw chickpeas however have much better texture.
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This post has been updated from the recipe archives, first published in March 2014.
Chole Recipe (Punjabi Chole Masala)
Ingredients
To pressure cook
- 2 cups chickpeas raw, to be soaked overnight
- 2 bay leaves
- 5-6 green cardamom pods
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- 4-5 black peppercorn
- 2 black tea bags for dark color of chole
- 1 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
- 5 cups water
For the chole masala
- 1 – 1 & 1/2 tablespoons oil use any oil of choice
- 2 whole cloves
- 3/4 cup grated onions or very finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons ginger garlic paste
- 2 & 1/2 cups pureed tomatoes from 4 medium tomatoes
- 3 teaspoons chole masala homemade (recipe above) or store-bought
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder or to taste, use Kashmiri red chili powder for less heat
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika powder
- 3/4 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1/2 salt adjust to taste
To garnish
- 1 tablespoon ghee
- 1 inch ginger cut into julienne
- 1/4 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/2 tablespoon crushed kasuri methi also known as dried fenugreek leaves
- 2 tablespoons cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Soak 2 cups of raw chickpeas overnight (or for a minimum of 8 hours) in enough water to cover them. In the morning you should have around 5 cups of chickpeas (they increase in size overnight as they soak). Drain the water in which the chickpeas were soaked.
- Then transfer the chickpeas to a stovetop pressure cooker and add the whole spices- bay leaves, green cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, and black peppercorns. Also add 2 black tea bags (for color), 5 cups water and 1 teaspoon salt. Close the cooker and cook at high heat for 1 to 2 whistles. Then lower the heat to medium and let the chickpeas cook for another 10 minutes or so. Then remove the cooker from heat and let the pressure release naturally. If using an Instant pot, cook on high pressure for 20 minutes and let the pressure release naturally.
- Once the pressure comes off, remove the tea bags and bay leaves using a pair of tongs. The tea bags are used for color only and don't have an impact on the taste of chole. Set this aside.
- Heat 1 to 1 & 1/2 tablespoons of oil in a large kadai or pot on medium heat. Add 2 whole cloves and grated onions to the pot. Cook the onions until the raw smell goes away and they are light golden brown in color, this takes around 7 to 8 minutes.
- Then add the ginger garlic paste and cook until the raw smell goes away, around 2 minutes.
- Now, add the tomato puree and stir. Cover the pot and cook the tomatoes for around 15 minutes on medium-low heat, stir every 2 to 3 minutes in between. This step of cooking the tomatoes is important.
- Once the tomatoes are done, add the spices- chole masala, red chili powder, paprika, cumin powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir and cook the spices for a minute or two.
- Then add the boiled chickpeas, (along with the water in which they were boiled) to the pot and stir until the chickpeas are well combined with the masala. Add an extra 1/2 cup water here and then cover the pan and let the chole simmer on medium-low heat for 30 minutes. Simmering on how heat is what will give this chole so much flavor! Mash some of the chickpeas with the back of your spatula while they are simmering.The gravy will thicken after 30 minutes, so if you prefer more gravy in your chole, add more water than what is mentioned in the recipe.
- Then for the final step, heat 1 tablespoon of ghee in a small pan on medium heat. Once hot, add the ginger juliennes and fry until the juliennes are golden brown in color but do not burn them. Add the ginger juliennes to the chole, stir and switch off the heat.
- Add garam masala, kasuri methi and chopped cilantro and serve the chole hot with rice, bhatura, parathas and more!
Video
Notes
- Skip the ghee in the tempering to make this vegan.
- To cut short the process of soaking chickpeas overnight, use canned chickpeas which are easily available at grocery stores. The canned ones can be prepared immediately and do not need to be soaked overnight.
- Adjust the amount of red chili powder in the recipe to taste.
- Patience is something you will need while cooking chole or any such Indian curry. Of course, I can make it in a quicker way by adding everything in the pressure cooker. But if you let the tomatoes and onions cook really well and then simmer the chickpeas with the spices for a longer time, the taste would be much much better.
- I like to keep the chole masala gravy on the thicker side, for a thinner gravy add more water.
- Chole masala actually tastes the best 1 day after you make it because the spices are then better incorporated into the chickpeas.
- Chole freeze well. Let the curry come down to room temperature, store in an airtight container and freeze.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Love all ur recipes Manali, you are just amazing with ur cooking. Infact whenever I look up a recipe on Google I always check for “by Manali” , all the best and kep Posting ❤️
Thank you Taniya, so glad 🙂
Why Put cinnamon and all in the cooker instead of the pan at the time of frying?
Does it create any difference?
I feel it adds to more flavor, you do however you want to do it 🙂
I’ve made this so many times – THANK YOU, Manali! This chole is so much better than any restaurant. I do used canned chickpeas and an everest chole seasoning mix (cheating) but i use my boyfriend’s mom’s special red chilli powder blend. In addition, instead of water I add chicken stock 🙂
you are welcome 🙂
I’ll be making this tonight with bhature and aloo tikki for holi! How much salt do you add?
Try 1 teaspoon and go from there
I used this recipe many times, it is very easy to prepare and will never go wrong. Thanks Manali
I tried this recipe many times. Very tasty
This is amazing. I’ve been trying to find something like this for years. Thank you for your work, this is perfect
awesome!
Hi Manali, tried your recipe today.
Turned out great. Many thanks.
glad to know 🙂
Hi! I just wanted to know what the instant pot instructions for the pressure cooker would be. Thank you!
25 minutes at high pressure
Hi
When it says 2 cups chickpeas, do you mean 1 american cup. The ingredients seem less for 2 cups.
yes I mean American standard cup. 1 cup= 8 oz/240 ml
I did this today for the first time. Ohhhh this was absolutely delicious. My husband loved it. Thank you.
Made your Punjabi chole today. Awesome recipe like all the others. Thank you so much for sharing them
glad to know Sudha!
Your Punjabi Chhole recipe is superb. All component proportions are perfectly balanced, with a running commentary like lucid instructions.
Although I have been eating Chhole for years, this
is the first time I cooked Punjabi Chhole myself. I have a keen sense of taste and aroma and found the Chhole as per your recipe the best. Thanks for sharing your expertise.
Hi Manali,
I’m sorry if you have mentioned info on Chole masala on your website and I missed it but could you please describe the masala you use? If you make it at home, could you please share the recipe (I see that you have mentioned ingredients in the comments above, could you please also share use ratio, thanks. If you are using store bought, could you please share the brand name. I made this recipe and it turned out ok but it seems like everyone had a better experience. My Indian friends tell me masala taste vary widely between brands. Thanks
Try everest brand chole masala
Great recipe, thanks for sharing!!!
I dont have cloves at home right now and need to cook this receipe. Any substitute which I can add instead of cloves..?
please skip, no big deal
Made this for lunch and it was so tasty 🙂 IThank you for this fab recipe.
Here 1 cup equals to how much ml?
I use US standard size cup, 1 cup= 240 ml/8 oz
Black peppercorns is mentioned in the ingredients list but nowhere in the method…sorry I’m confused
has to be added along with all the other spices while pressure cooking, even if you skip it – it’s not going to change the taste of the chole, so not really a big deal. It’s a typo and I will fix it.
Hi I generally don’t leave comments but this recipe is great and well explained. I used two tomatoes instead of 4 but it still tasted nice. Thank you
awesome!
Tried this today.. It turned out awesome.. thanks
Best chole masala recipe I’ve tried! My new favorite! I highly recommend this recipe to anyone craving Punjabi chole!
awesome!
Hi Manali,
Do you pressure cook the 5.5 cups of the overnight soaked chickpeas or 2 cups of them?
the 2 cups dried chickpeas increase in size and become 5.5 cups of chickpeas when soaked overnight. So I pressure cook what I have after soaking- 5.5 cups of soaked chickpeas.
A great great dish!!
Super!
Thank you Manali
OM
What is paprika powder?
Can we skip it?
Paprika powder is papkrika powder, a spice, not sure what else to call it? Yes you can skip
Paprika is a type of chili powder, much milder and comes from pepper plants typically grown in US and Mexico.
Fantastic recipe! It turned out so well. Everybody loved it and I’ve been told by my family that going forward I should be making chole just like this??
yay! 🙂
I have been making chole masala for years now but the family had become bored of the taste. Was looking to rev it up and that’s when I came across this recipe. Decided to give it a go and boy, was I pleasantly surprised!
I tried this recipe. It turned out to be good.
Thankyou for sharing this recipe
Dear Manali, Your’s is the first recipe I came across which gave out the secret of dark colour (with tea bags) for chole .Made it today ,it looked fantastic and tasted delicious! Thank you so much ?
Hi…i tried your recipe today..it turned out to be awsome…everyone loved it…thank you ?
I tried this recipe and turns out awesome!
Thank you!
I don’t have a pressure cooker. How long should I boil the chickpeas for? I soaked them overnight. Thank you
until they are soft and cooked. I have never cooked chickpeas on stove-top, so hard for me say exact time but probably 1 hour?
Hi Manali,
I have just recently started following your recipes. Eat one was winner. Made Chole Bhature for lunch today. Was yummmmmm! Was not at all too much masala and the bhature turned out oilers. Thank you.
Lovely delicious recipe, I’m making it again today.?
Only thing I’d say is don’t pressure cook tea bags! Mine burst and I had to strain and rinse the loose tea from chole! Instead simmer tea bags in water for 15mins ish and then discard the bags and use water in pressure cooker ?
I regularly pressure cook the tea bags, never had this problem. Maybe the tea bags you used were old or something. Glad you liked the recipe.
Hi this is Ananya, I love your recipes. Want to try this recipe but I do not have tomatoes. Can you tell me substitute for tomatoes.
That is tough Ananya, tomatoes form the base of chole curry. I really don’t know a substitute for them. You can make another type of chole fir onions only, but for this recipe you would need tomatoes.
I dont have tea bags handy right now. What shall i use then ?
Skip, it’s only for color!
Just mad this recipe without the kasturi methi and yet loved it. Though the color of my gravy isnt as dark as yours but it still taste good. Thanks ?
This is the best chole I’ve ever tasted. I’ve tried a lot of chole recipes, not too different from one another, but with quite different results, for me at least. That said, I love all chole! but yours is my new chole recipe and I can’t imagine trying another. Going to look into ordering your cookbook also. I love to cook Indian food; an American living in Goa, but I learned to cook Indian food before I ever came here, from my great teacher Madhur Jaffreys. Some of the pages in my Madhur cookbooks have been used so many times, they are all stained almost unreadable. I’m always open to a new cookbook. I have a new instant pot waiting for me in California where I planned to spend monsoon, until I got locked down here. I’ll take the book back to CA with me, and if successful with it, maybe I can buy an instant pot here in India when I return.
Thanks for the chole! maybe now I’ll try your rajma.
Katharine
glad to know! stay safe 🙂
Super Chhole recipe. Made today with most of the ingredients suggested. Enjoyed ! Many thanks
They turned out to be awsome….. the way my husband loves from one of the food joint back in Pune. Thank you
Very precise instructions, especially timings mentioned were really helpful. Thanks!
Hi, I don’t generally leave comments but this turned out to be amazing! Your instructions were very accurate and this is absolutely delicious. ?
awesome!
Which Chole masala do u use
Everest or homemade
Have used your recipe thrice already my husband is Punjabi too so we share a common challenge’To make the perfect Chole’ ?Made it right now with just a small variation of a coin size imli soaked in 3/4 cup of water and added it after the masala was added step as my husband likes it more tangy also added half teaspoon of Amchur pwd turned out as per his taste. Thanks to you he loves the chole I make now.
awesome, good to know 🙂
Loved the idea,will make it this style today!!!ty!
Hi Manali,
Can I use canned chick peas? Will it change the colour and texture? Please advise
You can but yes if you ask me, I would always tell to use raw chickpeas to make chole masala since that’s how it was always made and it tastes the best that way. Of course you may use canned chickpeas but the taste and flavor will be superior when you use soaked raw chickpeas.
Hello Manali! If we use canned chickpeas, how does that change the quantity of chickpeas for this recipe we must use?
I also saw a comment below where you said we can use amchur powder. If I substitute Garam masala for chole masala (same qty listed here) and use amchur in addition, how much amchur should I add?
around 3 cans of chickpeas. don’t substitute garam masala for chole masala, the taste is entirely different and so much garam masala will ruin your dish. I suggest you try simple Chana Masala in place https://www.cookwithmanali.com/chana-masala/
Thank you for sharing this recipe, we just made it and it was yummy.
Hey! Like some other commenters, I don’t have chhole masala either. What I do have are the usual spices:
cumin, cloves, coriander, peppercorn, cardamom (list copied from your recipe). But I also have chaat masala. The way my mom used to make it, the chhole had a bit of a tangy flavor–can I add chaat masala for this? Or does that flavor come from the tomatoes?
Maybe I’m remembering the taste incorrectly. It’s literally been ~7 years since I’ve had chhole. 🙂
The tangy flavor usually comes from pomegranate seeds which are a part of chole masala. you can use amchur (Dried mango powder) if you have that!
Great recipe ! I made chole using this and they were loved licked by all ?
Hi Manali, What would be the Instant Pot version of this recipe? Thanks.
the instant pot recipe is in my cookbook!
I just needed the Instant Pot pressure-cooking time–I presume 25 minutes with NP release?
Yes!
25 minutes on pressure cooker setting? high med or low, seems like a long time – just clarifying . looking forward to making this !!!
Thanks so much!
high pressure 25 minutes. Punjabi chole is supposed to have that melt-in-mouth consistency, that’s how I grew up eating it in Delhi and for that you need this much time. 🙂
Made it just now, looks yum
Hi Manali, this recipe sounds lovely. What spices are in Chole Masala? I’m wondering if I can mix it myself?
Chole Masala typically has coriander seeds, cumin seeds, dried pomegranate seeds, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon!
Can we skip the juliennes part
yes but it’s so good 🙂