Rawalpindi Style Chole Recipe
A very traditional recipe from the Rawalpindi region in Pakistan made from chickpeas in a flavourful gravy is a must try recipe. Serve it along with some puris and lassi for a sunday breakfast
Rawalpindi Style Chole is a dish made with chickpeas which belongs to the Rawalpindi region in Pakistan. Pind means village and Rawal is a region in Pakistan, hence the name is Rawalpindi Chole. Pindi chole is made with white chick peas or kabuli chana, onion, tomato, ginger garlic paste and lots of spices. To enhance the colour, we should add a black tea bag while pressure cooking the chana. You can also tea powder or tea leaves in a muslin cloth and add it to pressure cooker if you don’t have a tea bag.
The addition of anardana and other spices like coriander seeds, chili powder, dry mango, turmeric powder and cumin makes this dish different from the normal chole and gives a spicy and tangy taste to the curry. This dish is normally served as a dry curry. But if you need gravy, you can add a little water to it. You can serve this dish with finely chopped raw onion and phulkas. Use it as a filling in wraps or sandwiches and pack in your kid’s lunch box.
Did you know- Health benefits of chickpeas are plenty. Apart from being rich in fiber and protein, they also contain vitamins which are good for health. They also promote heart health and are good for digestive health as they are rich in fiber and protein.
Serve Rawalpindi Style Chole Recipe with Puri and Burani Raita for a perfect Weekend breakfast or lunch.
If you like this recipe, you can also try other chole recipes such as
10 M
45 M
55 M
4 Servings
Ingredients
- 1 cup Kabuli Chana (White Chickpeas)
- 2 Onion , finely chopped
- 1 Tomato , finely chopped
- 5 cloves Garlic
- 1/4 inch Ginger
- 1 Green Chilli , slit
- 2 tablespoon Coriander (Dhania) Seeds
- 2 tablespoon Anardana Powder (Pomegranate Seed Powder)
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds (Jeera)
- 2 tablespoon Cumin powder (Jeera)
- 2 tablespoon Red chilli powder
- 1 tablespoon Turmeric powder (Haldi)
- 1 teaspoon Amchur (Dry Mango Powder)
- 1 tablespoon Garam masala powder
- 1 Black tea , bag
- 4 tablespoon Ghee
- Salt , to taste
How to make Rawalpindi Style Chole Recipe
To begin making the Rawalpindi Style Chole recipe, firstly soak the chickpeas in water overnight or for about 6-7 hours.
After soaking, pressure cook the chickpeas in cooker by adding 1/4 teaspoon salt and a tea bag. Pressure cook for 8 to 10 whistles.
After pressure cooking, discard the tea bag, drain and retain water in which the chickpeas were pressure cooked. Slightly mash half of the boiled chickpeas and keep them aside.
Dry roast the coriander seeds and pomegranate seeds. After cooling, add them to a grinder and powder them. Keep it aside.
Heat a kadhai and add ghee. When ghee gets melted, add cumin seeds and let them crackle.
After the cumin seeds crackle, add onion and fry till onion turns pinkish. Crush the garlic and ginger using mortar pestle and make a paste.
Add this to the onion in the kadhai and saute till the raw smell of garlic goes away. Add green chili and saute for a few seconds.
Now add tomato and saute till tomato turns mushy. Once the tomatoes are soft add turmeric powder, red chili powder, cumin powder, dry mango powder and garam masala,the ground coriander seeds powder and anardana powder. Mix well t o combine. Add boiled chickpeas, salt to taste and 1 cup of the retained water left after boiling the chickpeas.
Bring the pindi chole to a brisk boil and simmer for some time. After the gravy thickens turn off the heat.
Transfer the Rawalpindi chole to a serving bowl and keep aside.
Serve Rawalpindi Style Chole Recipe with Puri and Burani Raita for a perfect Weekend breakfast or lunch.
Raksha Kamat
I am originally from Goa. A Mom to a little daughter. A software engineer by profession and have a full time job at an MNC. I am a passionate food blogger who loves to cook, write about food, style it and click pictures of it. My recipes have been featured in Fortune Desi Bites, The Hindu - Young World and NDTV Good Times.
