Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Punjabi Chole (Chickpea Masala)
Chickpeas simmered dark and tangy with tea-infused water, ginger, and a toasted spice blend.
North Indian · easy · serves 4
prep 15 min · cook 40 min
~313 cal · 11g protein · 39g carbs · 14g fat · 8g fiber · 9g sugars · 2g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Chole, chickpeas simmered into a dark, tangy, deeply spiced masala, is the pride of Punjab. Its signature near-black color traditionally comes from cooking the chickpeas with tea leaves or dried amla, and its tang from dried pomegranate and mango powders that define the Punjabi palate.
The dish is built on a foundation of onions, ginger, garlic, and tomatoes cooked down with a robust spice blend, then finished with the bright, sour notes that make it unmistakable.
Most famously it is paired with fluffy fried bhature bread as chole bhature, eaten for breakfast, off street carts, and at festivals across Punjab and beyond.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
3 cups (2 cans) cooked chickpeas
1 black tea bag
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, puréed
2-inch piece ginger, half minced, half
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp chole masala (or and amchur)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground chili
3 tbsp
1 handful cilantro, chopped
Instructions
1
Simmer the chickpeas in 2 cups water with the tea bag for 10 minutes, then discard the bag and keep the liquid.
✎ Chef’s note
The black tea is the trick behind chole's deep brown colour, staining the chickpeas dark without any artificial help.
2
Fry the onion in oil over medium-high heat until deeply browned at the edges, about 8 minutes.
3
Add the minced ginger and garlic and cook 1 minute.
4
Add the tomato puree and cook until the oil separates out, about 6 minutes.
5
Stir in all the spices, then add the chickpeas with their tea-dark liquid.
6
Simmer 15 minutes, mashing a few chickpeas against the side of the pot to thicken the gravy.
7
Finish with julienned ginger and cilantro. Serve with rice, bhature, or gluten-free flatbread.
Amritsar dhaba-style chole.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Punjab. Winter is the season the cooking is built for. Mustard greens are slow-cooked for hours into sarson ka saag, finished with butter and eaten with makki di roti, unleavened maize bread patted out by hand because it has no gluten to hold it. Dairy does the rest: ghee, paneer, and lassi churned and served in a tall steel tumbler.
🗺️
India. India is less a single cuisine than a subcontinent of them, where every state cooks differently, coconut-rich curries in the south, tandoor breads and rich gravies in the north, vegetarian thalis in the west. A vast spice vocabulary and deep vegetarian traditions make it one of the world's most varied tables.
🌍
Asia. Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, and its food spans the delicate seasonality of Japanese washoku, the chili-fired curries of India and Thailand, and the wheat-and-lamb traditions of Central Asia. Rice, noodles, soy, and fermentation recur across its regions, while ancient spice routes and religious traditions shaped distinct grammars of flavor. Whether from a street-cart wok or a monastery kitchen, eating is deeply communal and ritual-rich.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from India
Kerala Ishtu (Coconut Vegetable Stew)A gentle, fragrant stew of potatoes and vegetables in coconut milk with ginger, green chili, and curry leaves.
Pav BhajiMumbai’s beach-stall classic: a buttery mashed vegetable curry with toasted buns, lime, and raw onion.
Hyderabadi Chicken BiryaniThe dum method: marinated chicken and half-cooked saffron rice sealed together so the pot finishes the dish in steam.
Browse all India recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan, Blender.
Storing it: Stews and braises keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated and often taste better the next day. Reheat gently, adding a splash of water if it has thickened.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Punjabi Chole (Chickpea Masala)?
Chickpeas simmered dark and tangy with tea-infused water, ginger, and a toasted spice blend.
Where does Punjabi Chole (Chickpea Masala) come from?
Punjabi Chole (Chickpea Masala) is a North Indian dish from Punjab, India.
Can Punjabi Chole (Chickpea Masala) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Punjabi Chole (Chickpea Masala) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Punjabi Chole (Chickpea Masala) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Punjabi Chole (Chickpea Masala) take to make?
About 55 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 40 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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