Chole Kulcha Bowl
Pressure-cook 1 Amritsari Chole potli with the soaked chickpeas. Remove it after cooking before the chickpeas are transferred to the masala.
Ingredients
For the Chole
- Dried kabuli chana — 1¼ cups / 250 g
- Water — 4½ cups
- Salt — 1¼ tsp
Zaika Potli
- Amritsari Chole — 1 potli
For the Masala
- Oil — 1½ tbsp
- Onion — 1 medium, finely chopped
- Ginger-garlic paste — 2 tsp
- Tomato — 1 large, finely chopped
- Coriander powder — 1½ tsp
- Kashmiri chilli powder — ½ tsp
For the Bowl
- Kulcha — 4
- Thick curd — 1 cup
- Red onion — 1 small, finely sliced
- Tomato — 1 medium, diced
- Green chutney — 4 tbsp
- Fresh coriander — 3 tbsp
- Lemon — 1
- Chaat masala — ½ tsp
Cooking Instructions
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1Soak the chickpeas overnight. Drain and rinse.
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2Pressure-cook them with water and the Amritsari Chole potli until tender.
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3Remove the potli and reserve about 1½ cups cooking liquid.
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4Heat oil and cook the onion until golden.
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5Add ginger-garlic paste and cook for 1 minute.
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6Add tomato, coriander powder and chilli powder and cook until the tomato becomes pulpy and the masala begins releasing oil.
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7Add the chickpeas and ¾ cup reserved cooking liquid.
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8Mash a small spoonful of chickpeas into the gravy and simmer for 12–15 minutes until thick but spoonable.
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9Toast the kulchas on a tawa and cut each into wedges.
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10Divide the chole among four bowls.
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11Add a spoonful of curd, onion, tomato, green chutney and coriander to each.
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12Sprinkle very lightly with chaat masala and serve with lemon wedges and warm kulcha.
Keep the chole slightly thicker than you would for a traditional plated curry. A composed bowl becomes messy and watery if the chickpeas have too much loose gravy.
🍽️ Perfect Serving Pairings
My Take On Chole Kulcha Bowl
This bowl takes the flavours of a chole-kulcha plate and presents them as a practical composed meal with spiced chickpeas, toasted kulcha, onion, tomato, chutney and curd. The Amritsari Chole infusion builds the whole-spice and tea-amla-anardana base without requiring loose whole spices to be picked out later.
The Secret: Keep the chole slightly thicker than you would for a traditional plated curry. A composed bowl becomes messy and watery if the chickpeas have too much loose gravy.