Chole Bhature is one of the tempting and flavourful dishes from Punjabi Cuisine. The combination of ‘Chickpea curry’ and ‘Fried Flatbreads’ is known as ‘Chole Bhature’. ‘Chole Bhature’ is a Hindi phrase, and in that ‘Chole’ is a spicy and tangy chickpea curry and the fried flatbreads are called bhature/bhatura. The combination of both is known as ‘Chole Bhature’.
This dish is one of the most eaten breakfast/brunch in the Northern part of India. Every single thought about this dish makes me nostalgic and takes me through the memory lane. Whenever I go to India, the first dish I eat is Chole Bhature. There are lots of famous places you can eat Chole Bhatura in Delhi.
Chole Bhatura evokes lots of amazing memories in my mind. My college was near Bengali Market and my friends, Rasneet and Vasu and I would often (at least twice a week) walk to Bengali Market to eat Chole Bhature at Nathu’s. In those days there was no air conditioning at Nathu’s and still we would sit under the fans, in 40C eating Chole Bhature in a full service restaurant sweating like mad. Many a times we had to queue in the heat but it was definitely worth the wait. The bhature were crisp on the outside, soft inside and have a satisfying doughy taste. And when you break off a piece of bhatura and scoop up the chole with it … that’s when the real magic happens! Some onion and pickle with it and you are in heaven!
Now that I live in the UK, my friend Ruchika (yes we have the same name) often has a chola Bhatura party. I am the official ‘Bhatura’ person as she makes the chola and I make the Bhatura. There is something really nostalgic about coming together and cooking. The dish Chola Bhatura is synonymous to friends for me. It just revokes lots of memories of the past, present and I am sure we will continue to make special memories in the future too!
My recipe of instant bhature is extremely easy and fool proof. This recipe is for those days when I really want to eat chole bhature with minimum effort but no compromise on flavour! For the instant bhature, I use self-raising flour in my recipe.
Other popular Indian Breads worth trying at home are Plain Naan, Mint and Sesame Lachha Paratha, Vegetable Mughlai Paratha, Aloo Paratha, Moong Dal Paratha to name few.
