• First starts with boiling of chana with whole spices and garlic which are later discarded.
• Secondly, roasting all the dry spices (which are always ready in my pantry) and later grounding them to their powdered form gives a nice, toasty depth to the spices.
• Last assembling boiled chole with these roasted spices and onion-tomato adds more authentic level of flavor to the final dish.

BOILING CHOLE

• A night before- clean, wash and soak chole overnight.
• Soaked chole all puffed up.
• Assemble all the ingredients needed to boil chole.
• Drain soaked chole water and wash it under clean tap water.
• Add chole to a pressure cooker and add all the ingredients one by one.
• Pressure cook for nearly 20 minutes or until chole are soft and tender.
• Keep it aside.
• I prefer to discard boiled whole spices, mushy garlic and tea bags from the boiled chole.

CHOLE MASALA

• Assemble all the chana masala ingredients.
• Leave these four out - black salt, red chili powder, cinnamon powder and roasted cumin seeds....
• Transfer all the spices to a pan and on a low flame dry roast all of the spices till they start omitting their aroma. Be careful not to burn the spices. Keep them aside.

ASSEMBLING CHOLE

• Final step is to assemble the chole.
• In a kadhai heat oil, add onions, ginger and saute for 2 minutes on a medium flame. Mix in chopped tomatoes, salt and mix till they are fully blended.
• Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes till tomatoes are soft and tender.
• Mix in the roasted dry spices and the left out 4 dry spices - black salt, red chili powder, cinnamon powder and roasted cumin seeds....
• And give it a good mix.
• Add 1/4 cup water and bring it to a boil.
• As the oil starts to separate.
• Mix in boiled chole...
• And cook for another 4-5 minutes on a medium flame.
• Bring it to a boil, add chopped cilantro leaves and mix...
• Delicious and mildly flavored chole are ready.

Garnish with Green Chilies and Green Dhania & serve with Bhathura