Aromatic, flavourful and amazingly delicious Lahori Chikar Cholay recipe is popular street food from Lahore. Basic spices, thick onion-tomato gravy, masoor dal and chickpeas (kabuli chana) is all you need to make this cholay recipe. Serve this with batura, naan, kulcha or parotta.
More chickpea recipes to try – Simple Chickpea Soup, Chickpea Raw Mango Salad, Chickpeas Pomegrenate Salad, Samosa Chaat, Chana Pulao.
About This Recipe
Last night I was lazily browsing through SIT videos on YouTube, which is my latest pass time these days and heard this name Chikar Cholay for the first time. Being foodie, I googled what is Chikar Cholay. Chikar Cholay or Chickar Cholay is a popular street food from Pakistan and is often called as Lahori Chikar Cholay. Usually they serve this with bature (deep fried bread). Chikar (chic-kar, is a Punjabi word) meaning mushy and cholay is chickpeas (kabuli chana, white chickpeas)
In this recipe, after cooking cholay and masoor dal, we slightly mash them, which gives in thick gravy to the recipe. They are many variations in making this chikar cholay recipe. Some add boiled eggs and some add potatoes, but I settled to try this from Fun Cooking.
Got up from bed and soaked chickpeas to try this out in the morning. Made this in lunch today and we just loved it. I am glad that I have found one more way to indulge chickpeas as we love chickpeas a lot. Overall, chikar cholat is a delicious and flavourful dish that is easy to make and perfect for nay occasion.
Lahori Chikar Cholay Ingredients
Chickpeas | Kabuli Chana | White Chickpeas – High in nutrition and helps in keeping the appetite under control. We commonly use chickpeas in making chaat, salad, tikki, patty, curries and pulao.
Masoor Dal | Indian Red Lentils – Adds plant-protein, thickness the gravy and flavours the recipe.
Onion – Adds taste and makes the curry base.
Green Chilies – Adds heat and spice.
Tomato – Adds tangy taste and makes the curry base.
Ginger-Garlic Paste – Adds aroma, flavour and taste.
Curd – Adds creamy texture to the gravy.
Garam Masala – Adds aroma, flavour, heat and spice.
Spices – Fennel powder, roasted coriander powder, black peppercorns, roasted cumin powder, red chili powder, turmeric powder and salt
Other Ingredients – oil, salt and minced fresh Coriander leaves
Key Takeaways
- Chickar Cholay is a popular street food in Pakistan made with chickpeas, masoor dal and a variety od spices.
- The dish has been a staple in Punjabi Cuisine for centuries and is known for its spicy and tangy flavours.
- Chickar cholay is a great source of plant-based protein and is often served in breakfast.
Serving Chikar Cholay
Serve Chikar Cholay with a garnish of fresh coriander leaves, chopped onions and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Serve this with bhatura, naan, roti, parota, kulcha or with bagara rice or ghee rice or jeera rice.
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Lahori Chikar Cholay
Lahori Chikar Cholay is a popular street food of Pakistan. Chikar means mushy and cholay means chickpeas. This is spicy, delicious and plant-protein rich recipe.
Ingredients
- 250 gms. Chickpeas wash and soak overnight or for 8 hours
- 75 gms. Masoor Dal
- 1 big Onion, finely sliced
- 2 Green chilies, chopped
- 1 big Tomato, sliced
- ½ tbsp. Ginger-Garlic paste
- ½ cup Curd/Yogurt
- ½ tbsp. Fennel powder
- ¾ tbsp. roasted Coriander powder
- ½ tbsp. Black peppercorns
- ½ tbsp. roasted cumin powder
- ½ tbsp. Garam Masala
- 1½ tbsp. Red chili powder
- ½ tbsp. Turmeric powder
- 3 tbsp. Oil
- Salt as per taste
- 1 tbsp. minced fresh Coriander leaves
Instructions
How to make Lahori Chikar Cholay
- Wash and soak masoor dal for 15 minutes.
- Drain water from chickpeas and add to pressure cook along with masoor dal.
- Add 5-6 cups of water and pressure cook for 6-8 whistles or until the chickpeas turn soft.
- In the meantime add oil to skillet/kadai and fry onions. When the onions start to turn light brown add tomatoes and green chilies.
- Sauté on medium heat, until tomatoes turn mushy. Stir in ginger-garlic paste and fry till raw smell wafts.
- Now add red chili powder, roasted coriander powder, salt, turmeric powder, roasted cumin powder and black peppercorns.
- Fry for a minute and add this to chickpeas and masoor dal mixture in the pressure cooker.
- Stir and allow this to cook for 4-5 minutes. Adjust consistency by adding little water if necessary. Sprinkle garam masala and fennel powder.
- Stir and serve by garnishing with fresh minced coriander leaves.
- I served this Lahori Chikar Cholay with parota. You can even serve this with jeera rice or roti or poori.
- Add love to make this Chikar Cholay taste ‘Yummy’.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 205Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 4mgSodium: 235mgCarbohydrates: 23gFiber: 6gSugar: 7gProtein: 8g
This Lahori Chikar Cholay recipe is going to participate in MFB Challenge #10 where the theme of the month is ‘Pakistani Cuisine’. Here are some more yummy Pakistani recipes by my dear buddy bloggers basing on the theme. Happy Cooking!
Rafeeda - The Big Sweet Tooth says
That sounds like an amazing curry to go with parathas…. good to see that you picked up a vegetarian dish to go for this challenge… 🙂
Hiba says
The first vegetarian diah on this challenge .. i love choley reipes … it looks delicious
Adiba Anwar says
I love this food. Here one friend of me from India used to make chiker choley with pathoory. But now she went back to india and I’m missing this yummy food.
K.T. Lynn says
This kinda reminds me of foul, but OMG it looks so good masha’Allah. I am going to try this recipe right away! 🙂
Muslim Mummy says
Have to say I had never heard of it before either but it looks pretty good! Might have to give it a go
bushrazblogs says
Yummy….:) it looking delicious.
Multicultural Motherhood says
I have never tried this before. It looks delicious! #MuslimahBloggers
afreenzia says
Looks yummy.I mostly make this kind of dishes..Best serves with paratha..
Zainab Dokrat says
Soo yummy!! Bookmarked because I love making dishes like this. (Www.spicyfusionkitchen.com)
Muslimah92 says
omg!! This sounds/looks sooooo tasty. I have never used funnel powder and masoor dal in the food I make. I am considering buying them. Would you say that they are mandatory for this meals or can I used any other spice as a replacement?