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February 15, 2008

Lasuni Chhole

There’s this friend of mine. We worked together in Hyderabad and lived about 5 streets away from each other. We spent many evenings together, cooking and eating at home, or checking out the many restaurants that kept mushrooming in the twin cities. But one thing irked me. She’d always try out their chhole-bhature. And then say that they didn’t know how to prepare it. We argued endlessly about why she had to bother ordering the stuff at all, but you know how these arguments go, don’t you?


One day, I decided to make chhole at home and she gave me this recipe over the phone. Being the ardent devotee of garlic that I am, I fell for it. It is simple and every time I make it, I get nice compliments. Now, that’s not easy to resist, is it? This may not be the recipe that she gave me, but it is what I remember and make time and again!



2 cups Chickpeas, soaked and boiled
3 tbsp Garlic, chopped finely
3 tbsp Coriander Leaves, chopped finely
2 Onions, chopped finely
2 Tomatoes, chopped finely
1 tsp Ginger, julienned
1 tsp Coriander Powder
1 tsp Cumin Powder
2 tsp Chilli Powder
½ tsp Pomegranate Seeds, powdered
1 tsp Chana Masala (optional)
1 tbsp Oil
Salt to Taste


Mix the chickpeas with the garlic and coriander leaves and keep aside for an hour or two.

Heat the oil in a pressure pan. Add the onions and fry for a minute. Add the tomatoes along with the ginger and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the cumin and coriander powders along with the chilli powder. Add the salt and the powdered pomegranate seeds. If you are using the chana masala, add it now. Add the marinated chickpeas and about 1 ½ cups of water and pressure cook for 2 whistles (7 minutes).

When done, add some water depending on the consistency you're looking to achieve and mash a few chickpeas to thicken the gravy.



Serve with pooris, rotis or parathas. This is off to Sra for her A Fruit A Month (AFAM) - Pomegranate event. I used the seeds of this fruit... finally something different.

18 comments:

FH said...

I love garlic too. Love the Lasuni Chole, will try it. Do post the recipe for that Paratha too, more the better,looks good!:)
Have a great weekend sweetie.

Kalai said...

Chole looks awesome! Considering that I'm a die hard garlic fan, too, I'm sure I'd love this! Ashakka's right abt the parathas. Looks great and would really love to see the recipe! :)

Finla said...

Me too I am a reall fan of garlic.
I want to have the whole plate to eat. Chole and the parath. And the onions and lime. Yumm

Anonymous said...

Looks delicious Raag! Love the way the paratha looks :-)

Aarti said...

Hey

quite a coincidence.. i made Channa too yesterday for lunch...

only diff in our recipes is i dint use garlic,pomogranate seeds or channa masala...:)

vimmi said...

Never marinated the chole. will do it next time. rest of the recipe is similar to what i use.

Amrutha Ragavan said...

That is soo strange... I was searching for the chole recipe and I couldn't find one that was convincing. Yours is..thanks!
I did make Chole finally, but a l'll variation.. :)

A Cook @ Heart said...

Lasuni chhole! YUM!
those Parathas look SUPER!! when do u post that recipe?

Namratha said...

Frankly Raaga, I'm eyeing the Parota,which looks delicious!Post a recipe for that pls pls pls :) Love the chole too.

musical said...

Garlic really goes well with the chhole! And hey, that's one gorgeous looking parantha!

bee said...

this sounds easy and absolutely wonderful.

DEEPA said...

wow!!this is a awesome recipe ...excellent paratha too .....

Cynthia said...

I'm definitely going to try this.

Raaga said...

Thanks all of you... I am so glad you all loved the parathas... sorry to break your hearts ladies... they're Sumeru's frozen Malabar Parathas!!

But I am glad many of you plan to try the chhole... that's an authentic recipe :-)

Sig said...

I was going to comment on the lovely parathas too... :D The chole looks great... and sometimes I am like your food, ordering the same dish in different restaurants to use as a yardstick :D Have a great weekend sweetie!

Pooja V said...

I just loved this. Will let you know how this comes out.

sra said...

Raaga, I liked reading about your friend. We all know people like that, don't we? Or we are them :) The meal looks so good you've got me craving for this right now! The paratha's really eye-catching, tho' by rights, I should be commenting on the chole ;)

Viji said...

It is perfect with the layered paratha Raaga. Viji