Chole Bhature

Sunday, eleven in the morning, and the queue outside the shop has not moved in ten minutes. Inside, a bhatura hits the oil, sinks, and comes up swollen like a balloon. It lands on a steel plate beside chole so dark they look almost black, with one slit green chilli and a slice of raw onion. You tear the bhatura and steam rushes out at your face. That first hot, chewy, slightly sour bite with the sharp chole is the whole reason people wait.

The bhature go into Cold Pressed Groundnut Oil. Groundnut oil holds a steady frying heat and has a faint roasted-peanut smell that suits this dish better than any refined oil. Because ours is pressed slowly in a wooden ghaani and never deodorised, the bhature come out clean tasting instead of heavy. Strain the oil after it cools and it will fry another two or three times.

The rule: the dough must be soft, and it must rest. A stiff dough gives you flat, hard bhature every single time. Knead it soft like chapati dough, cover it, and leave it two hours in a warm corner of the kitchen. Then roll evenly, not thin at the edges.

How to make it

1. Make the dough first. Mix the maida, sooji, sugar, salt, soda and baking powder. Rub in 2 tbsp groundnut oil, then add the curd and knead, adding 2 to 4 tbsp water only if needed. You want a soft, smooth dough that dents easily under your thumb. Rub a little oil over it, cover with a damp cloth and leave 2 hours in a warm spot.
2. Drain the soaked chana. Pressure cook with 3 cups water, 1 tsp salt and the tea bag for 10 to 12 whistles, then 10 minutes on low. The chana should crush between two fingers with no effort. Take out the tea bag. Keep the black cooking water, it goes into the gravy.
3. Heat 3 tbsp groundnut oil in a kadhai. Add the cumin and whole spices, wait for the crackle, then the onions. Fry 8 to 10 minutes on medium until properly browned, not just soft. This browning is where the colour comes from.
4. Add the ginger-garlic paste, cook 1 minute, then the tomato puree and all the powdered spices except amchur and garam masala. Cook 10 to 12 minutes, stirring, until the masala darkens and oil shows at the edges.
5. Add the chana with 1.5 cups of its cooking water. Mash about a quarter of the chickpeas against the side of the pan. Simmer uncovered 15 minutes until the gravy thickens and clings. Stir in the amchur and garam masala, taste for salt and sourness.
6. Divide the rested dough into 8 balls. Roll each into an oval about 15 cm long and 3 mm thick, even all over. Do not use dry flour, oil the board lightly instead.
7. Heat 700 ml groundnut oil in a deep kadhai. Drop in a pea of dough. It should rise to the top in about 2 seconds without browning at once. Slide in one bhatura, and as it starts rising press it gently under the oil with the back of a slotted spoon for 3 to 4 seconds. It will balloon. Flip, fry 20 to 30 seconds more to light golden and lift out.
8. Fry one at a time so the oil stays hot. Serve straight away with the chole, sliced onion, green chilli, lemon and a spoon of pickle.

Tips

• Why bhature stay flat: stiff dough, uneven rolling, or oil that is not hot enough. Test with a pea of dough every few bhature, and never fry two together at home.
• Make ahead: the chole taste better the next day and keep 3 days in the fridge. The dough can rest in the fridge overnight, but bring it back to room temperature for an hour before rolling.
• No tea bag? Cook the chana with 2 dried amla pieces or a small piece of dried anardana. That is the older Punjabi way of getting the dark colour without any colouring.
• Reuse the frying oil. Cool it fully, strain through a fine sieve or muslin into a clean jar, and keep it away from light. Use it within two more fryings and never top up old oil with fresh.
• Bhature go leathery as they cool. Eat them within minutes. Roll all eight first, keep them under a cloth, and fry only when everyone is at the table.