
Dishoom's chole bhatura
Chole bhatura is one the most popular dishes of Punjabi cuisine. The combination of spicy chickpeas and fried bhatura bread make this dish an extra special flavoursome dinner party treat. It's meat-free and low calorie, meaning all your veggie and health-conscious friends can tuck in. This recipe was created by Dishoom's executive chef, Naved Nasir
Chole bhatura
- 1 x 400g tin chickpeasrinsed and drained
- 1 regular tea bag
- vegetable oil
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 pod cardamonbruised
- 2cm piece cinnamon stick
- 2 red onionsdiced
- 3 cloves garliccrushed
- 2 large thumb-sized pieces
gingerfinely grated
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 3 (about 200g) tomatoesskinned and roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 tsp gram flour
- 1 large potatopeeled, diced and cooked
- 1/2
limejuiced
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp ground dried pomegranateoptional
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp tamarind paste
Bhatura
- 200g plain flour
- 25g wholewheat or chappati flour
- 25g fine semolina
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 1/2 tsp fast-action dried yeast
- 75ml semi-skimmed milk
- 1 tbsp vegetable oilplus extra for deep-frying
To serve
- 1 small red onionfinely diced
- 2cm
gingerfinely shredded
- a bunch corianderfinely chopped
- 1 limewedged
- fried whole green chilliesto serve optional
Nutrition: per serving
- kcal555low
- fat23.5g
- saturates2g
- carbs68.1g
- sugars9.2g
- fibre9.3g
- protein13.3g
- salt1.1g
Method
step 1
For the bhatura, sieve the plain flour into a large bowl and add the wholewheat flour, semolina, 1 tsp. salt, sugar and the yeast.
step 2
Heat the milk with 100ml water in a small pan until lukewarm, stir in the vegetable oil and gradually add enough liquid to the flour until it resembles a soft but not sticky dough. Knead for 5-10 minutes until smooth, then cover with clingfilm and leave to rest for about 20 minutes.
step 3
Lightly oil a baking sheet and divide the dogs into 10 balls. Roll each bad to a 12cm circle, around 3mm thick.
step 4
Fill a pan with oil to no more than 1/3 full and heat to 180C, or until a piece of bread browns in 30 seconds. Deep-fry each bhatura, one at a time, for 3 minutes, carefully flipping halfway through then draining on kitchen paper. Repeat with the remaining bhatura.
step 5
Put the chickpeas and tea bag in a medium-sized pan and pour over 400-450ml cold water to cover generously. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to infuse.
step 6
Heat a frying pan over a medium heat with 2 tbsp oil and add the bay leaf, cardamom and cinnamon and fry for a few seconds. Add the onions and fry until golden, then add the garlic, ginger and chilli powder and fry for a further 2 minutes. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and tomato purée and fry for 5-10 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Add the gram flour and cook for a minute.
step 7
Discard the tea bag from the chickpeas and add these, along with their cooking liquid and the cooked potato, to the sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes until thickened.
step 8
Stir in the lime juice, garam masala, ground pomegranate (if using), ground cumin and tamarind paste, and simmer for another few minutes, then leave to cool.
step 9
When you’re ready to serve, reheat fully, then scatter with the onion, shredded ginger, and coriander, and serve with lime wedges, fried chillies and bhatura.