Chole

This is a typical Punjabi dish eaten with Bhatura, a kind of  fried bread made with refined flour, goes best with the Chole.

Now Chole takes me straight back to my college. I did my Home Science with Literature, Psychology and Nutrition. In the Home Science practicals one of our classes was to run the canteen on one of the weekdays. Our group ran it on Thursdays. There my Chole Bhature sold like crazy, with Gajar ka Halva. We had a Punjabi teacher as a guide for the canteen, she taught us the right way of making the Bhaturas. Actually, our nutrition teacher in the kitchen was a very pretty looking lady called Rosa. First thing she told us on the first day was, "Girls for cooking you need to know how to switch the gas on!! So come on with your lighters". So coming back to the canteen, we truly enjoyed the experience.

We classmates, were a group of fourteen. We literally painted the town red, be it the famous M G Road or Commercial Street (in Bangalore). And all the theatres which ran morning shows in those days. We would take the same auto as the lecturer got off from and rush to the cinemas. Now we are literally spread all over the globe. Luckily this time some of us managed to meet after three decades . We ate, chatted and brought back all memories:) We all realised that we could still give the current college girls a run for their money mann!! What with all of our energy and enthusiasm and the naughtiness!! has not become less by even half a percent.

So here comes my recipe of the famous Chole.

Chole (This is my Mum's recipe and all of us enjoy it made this way)

Ingredients

200 gms of Kabuli Chana soaked previous night, pressure cooked with salt and little soda 
3 onions finely chopped
2 tablespoons of tamarind pulp
1 tspoon cumin pdr
1 tspoon coriander pdr
1 tspoon pepper pdr
1 tspoon garlic paste
1 tspoon ginger paste
1 tspoon chilli pdr
Salt to taste
Finely chopped coriander for garnishing

Take oil in a kadhai, put the ginger garlic paste, saute a bit, add onions, cook it till brown, add all powders, the salt (add salt with care since we added it while cooking the Chana), tamarind paste, cook well, then add the boiled Chana, stir, mix well and see if it is too thick, then add little water to make it a required consistency. garnish with coriander, serve with Pooris or Bhaturas. Enjoy accompanied with freshly cut onion, tomato and sauteed green chilli.