My birthday was due in less than a week…I must have been 8-9 yrs old..and I was all excited like any little kid would be about their birthday! πŸŽ‚ 🍰 🍭🍭🎊🎁 I was never really big on birthday parties and stuff… But I always waited for my mom’s special cooking. She always made such an effort to make us sisters so happy on our birthdays… Β  πŸ’•
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So, coming back to a week before my birthday…my mom asked me like she did every single year….”what do you wish to eat for your birthday dinner!? 😊😊😊😚” (I had so many things in my mind …countless dishes that I absolutely love when I mom makes them! She’s a magician! I don’t mean only while cooking…but everything…she’s got a way to make everything seem so easy for all of us. I guess that’s what all moms do for their family πŸ’“….) ….

I simply said “Chole Bhature”…I didn’t really think. It just popped out of my mouth. She was like..it’s easy! Say something else. But I didn’t. I wanted her to be able to enjoy the evening with me instead of staying in the kitchen prepping for the meal! I wanted her to be there when I cut the cake 😊 …when I opened my presents which she so carefully packed for me! Simply said…I wanted her to have an easy evening and have some fun! I guess I had realised that food didn’t matter to me that evening. The time spent with family did… From that year, if I am spending my birthday with mom, I only ask for one Chole Bhature…it’s become kind of a ritual for me..

So, this last weekend..was looking at some childhood photographs..some from my birthday celebrations and I was thinking about how time flies. And then just like that…the foodie in me craved for some Chole Bhature. But, clearly it was too late to make any. However, the next day didn’t seem so bad after all so soaked some chickpeas, smiling to myself πŸ˜‰tomorrow would be a good day…

As I didn’t have my mom’s recipe for the Aloo Bhature, one of my favourite variants of Bhature,Β I called her and quickly noted everything down, deciding alongside to serve some refreshing Masala Chaas to go with my meal πŸ˜›πŸ˜..lets get started with the recipe!

Yield: serves a meal for 2-3

Equipment: a pressure cooker, a large wok, a large mixing bowl, a slotted spatula, a rolling pin, a rolling board, a few bowls, measuring spoons/cups.

Ingredients for the Khatte Chole: (serves 2-3)

1 cup Chole (garbanzo beans), washed & soaked for 8-9 hrs

1 nos tea bag

salt to taste

1/4 cup tamarind pulp

1/2 tsp turmeric pwd

1/2 tbsp red chilli pwd

2 tbsp ginger garlic paste

1 nos large onion finely chopped

2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

1tbsp Garam masala

1 tbsp roasted cumin pwd

1/2 tbsp roasted coriander pwd

A pinch of asafoetida (optional)

2 nos sliced green chilly

a pinch of sugar

3 tbsp oil

1/2 tbsp ghee

1/2 tsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

Method:

Boil the soaked the Chole in the pressure cooker with the tea bag & some salt for about 4-5 whistles. Turn off the gas and wait for the steam to settle on its own accord. Drain the Chole and save the water in which it was boiled for later use. (Tea bag is used only to get a good brown colour, skip it if you’re not comfortable using it, it’s taste won’t alter much)

Next, heat the oil & ghee together in the wok. Once it’s hot enough add the cumin seeds & asafoetida (if using). Let them splutter a bit. Then, add the chopped onions, slit green chillies & ginger garlic paste. SautΓ© on medium flame until the onions get a light golden colour. Next, add the cumin pwd, coriander pwd, red chilli pwd & turmeric pwd. SautΓ© until these spices & the onion are cooked well and some oil gets separated from them. Add the drained Chole into the masala base and mix well. Season with salt but carefully as u had seasoned the Chole while boiling it too.try mashing a few of the Chole with the back of the spatula. Add a pinch of sugar.

Next, add the Garam masalaΒ into the Chole and sautΓ© again for 5 mins on medium flame. You can adjust the consistency at this point using some of the water that we saved from the pressure cooker and mix well. Also add the tamarind pulp and mix well. Cover and cook for 7-8 mins on low flame. Open the wok after that and add chopped coriander leaves and lemon juice. (I don’t use any ready made Chole masala, however feel free to use some while frying the onions, it’s up to you. Also adjust the amount of tamarind pulp as per your taste, I like the extra punch it gives)  ☺️ serve it piping hot! Tastes great even with my Masala Puris.

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Ingredients for the Aloo ke Bhature: (makes 8-9)

2 cups wholewheat flour

1 cup APF (Maida)

3/4 cup sour curd (I used homemade curd which was a day old)

1/2 tsp baking soda

Salt to taste

1 nos small potato (boiled, peeled & grated)

1 tsp sugar

2 tsp oil + extra to grease the dough

water as needed ( I used about 1/2 a cup)

oil to fry

Method:

Take all the above ingredients in a large mixing bowl except the water. Mix everything well. Using little water at a time, make a medium hard dough. Use some oil to the smoothen the dough. Cover the dough with a wet napkin and let it rest for 2hours. ( even if it rests a little less than 2 hrs, it’s ok)

After resting the dough, just punch it down a bit. Make equal 8-9 balls of the dough. Using a rolling pin, make a round puri / flat bread of diameter approx 4-5″, and thickness should be a bit more than that of the puris/ flat bread. Do the same for the other balls as well. Set aside. Heat oil in a wok, once it hot enough, fry the bhaturas one by one in the oil, careful not to keep the heat too high as it will be undercooked from within. Keep for a min on the first side, when it fluffs up well, turn it over and fry for another 45 secs. That should be enough! Drain them on absorbent kitchen napkins. Serve hot! Β πŸ˜‰

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Ingredients for the Masala Chaas : (serves 2-3)

400 gm curd

salt, red chilli pwd, roasted cumin pwd, Himalayan pink salt (kala namak) to taste

2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

chilled water as required.

Method:

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the curd. Season with the above mentioned spices. Adjust the consistency with some chilled water. Serve immediately or you can keep it refrigerated as well for up to 5-6 hours. πŸ‘ŒπŸ˜€

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Now that’s what I call a soul-satisfying meal! Don’t you? Try these, you will end up making them often….

Love,

Shreya πŸ’ž

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