Chole bhature is a celebrated meal in our home. Spicy chickpea curry with crispy yet soft puffed breads called bhature. Traditionally a bhatura is made entirely with maida or refined white flour, but in this healthy bhature recipe I use a mix of 4 different flours. These are healthier and tastier!
Last weekend we had the whole family visiting. In all there were 8 adults and 6 kids. I knew if I planned for a complete Indian lunch or dinner it would mean at least 2-3 of us to be in the kitchen the whole time. But I wanted everyone to enjoy the food and the conversation and not worry about the cooking.
Chole Bhature is a complete meal which does not require too many items and is enjoyed by both kids and adults. Traditionally a Punjabi dish, but is enjoyed all over India. My parents live in Punjab and I feast on chola kulcha when I go back home, especially on trips to Amritsar, where we also get the traditional Amritsari chole masala.
There are plenty of spice brands that sell spice mix for Indian chickpeas curry, but truly speaking you don’t need too many fancy spices for regular cooking. The one spice mix I use very often is garam masala which I make at home. It adds a wonderful aroma and taste to the curry.
The bhature recipe is simple with only one catch. You need to let the dough rest for at least 3-4 hours in a warm environment for the natural yeast process to occur. The dough will rise to almost its double and becomes soft. While a bhatura is traditionally served with chickpea curry, it goes great with many Indian curries like:
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Bhature Recipe | Indian puffed bread
Ingredients (1cup = 240ml; 1tbsp = 15ml; 1tsp = 5ml)
- 3 cups all purpose flour (maida)
- 1 cup whole wheat flour (atta)
- 1 cup gram flour (besan)
- 1 cup fine semolina (sooji)
- 2 cups yogurt
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- Oil , for deep frying
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together the flours, salt and sugar. Knead to a firm dough with yogurt. Add more water/yogurt if required.
- Cover with a wet tea-towel and let the dough rest in a warm place for 3-4 hours. Divide the dough into 35-40 small balls.
- Heat oil in a kadhai/ wok.
- For each dough ball, roll them flat into a 6-8 inch diameter circle. It is better to roll out a few before you start to deep fry.
- When the oil is hot, deep fry each rolled bhatura till it puffs up crispy and golden.
- Serve with Amritsari chole masala or other Indian curries.
Notes
- For the Bhatura flour mix the proportion of Maida: Besan: Sooji: atta is 3:1:1:1. Adjust the quantity as required.
- While leavening the dough naturally with yogurt is the best, if you don’t have much time to rest the dough, you can add fast-acting yeast to the flour mix to speed up the process.
- Nutritional Information is for one bhatura bread. As they are deep fried, it is approximated that each bhatura absorbs about 2 tbsps of oil.
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Hey, great recipe. Just a quick question. Is it okay to use Amla for adding color to the chole? Thanks
Hello Aadhira,
Thanks so much. I am glad you liked my recipe for Chole-Bhature! Yes, you can add amla to the chole (chickpea curry). It will also add some tanginess so adjust the amount of pomegranate seeds accordingly.
Hope that helps,
Thanks Guys, Your Recipe Was Too Fantastic. Me and My Family Loved it. I Will Share your Rrecipe with my friends. Hope they will love it too.