Chole Batura

A typical Punjabi dish. I have inherited this recipe from my Mother along with many others. Its a meal by itself. You can serve Rice alongwith if you wish.

I actually realised the popularity of this dish when 3 years back, I decided to throw an anniversary party and my friends wanted me to make this dish. Well, I landed up making 175 batura's for around 20 people, thankfully with a little help from friends. So here it goes.

Ingredients :
For the Batura : Serving 4 People
Maida / All Purpose Flour : 2 Cups
Curd (Preferably little sour) : 1/2 cup
Salt : To Taste
Oil for deep Frying

For The Chola :
Chola / Chickpeas : 250 grams
Onion : 2 Finely Sliced
Tomato : 2 Chopped
Ginger Paste : 1 tsp
Garlic Paste : 1 tbsp
Tea Bags - 2 (Alternatively, 2 tsp tea boiled in a cup of water)
Aamchur Powder (Dry Mango) : 2 tsp
Masala (Given Below) : 2-3 tbsp
Oil : 2 Tbsp
Salt : To Taste
Coriander Leaves : Chopped for garnishing

To be ground into a Masala :
Cloves : 4-5
Cinnamon : 1 inch
Black Peppercorns : 5-6
Bay Leaves : 2-3
Nutmeg : 1/2 Grated
Mace : 1
Coriander Seeds : 1 tsp
Cumin Seeds : 1 tsp
Cardomom : 1 Seeded
Anardana (Pomegranate seeds) : 1/2 tsp
Charmagaz (Melon seeds) : 1/2 tsp
Red Whole Chilli : 2-3
Saunth / Dry Ginger : 1 inch



Recipe For Batura :
Take a Bowl. Gather Maida, Salt, curd and 2 tbsp oil. Add little water and made a hard dough. Cover it with a wet cloth and keep aside for 15-20 minutes.

Now take a portion of that dough and grease it lightly. Roll it into a Batura. It can be round shaped or elongated as per your wish. Heat oil for deep frying in a wok. Put the batura in the pan and fry it till light bown on both sides (like a puri). Drain and remove from oil and keep it on a kitchen tissue to remove excess oil. Repeat the process for the remaining dough.

Recipe For Masala :
Dry Roast all the ingredients for the masala seperately. Cool them completely. Grind into a powder.

Recipe For Chola / Chickpeas :
Soak Chickpeas overnight. Now take a pressure pan and put the chickpeas with 500 ml water. Add the tea bags and salt. (If you don't have a tea bag, then boil water wid 2 tsp tea. Use that water in chickpeas.) Let it cook till 2-3 whistles. When it is cooked, remove the tea bags and throw them away.

Heat oil in a wok. Add the onions. Saute till translucent. Add the ginger and garlic paste. Saute some more. Then add the tomatoes and saute for 2 minutes more. Add the salt, ground masala and aamchur powder. Saute till the tomatoes are cooked. Now remove from flame and add it to the chickpeas. Cover the pressure pan and give 1 more whistle.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with the batura.