EthanMarko2 at 17:52, 25 November 2025

2025-11-25T17:52:25Z

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{{short description|North Indian dish pairing flatbread and curry}}
{{good article}}
{{protection padlock|small=yes}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox food
| name = Chole bhature
| image = Chole Bhature from Nagpur.JPG
| image_size = 300px
| image_alt = A bowl of chickpea curry on a plate with two large, puffy flatbreads.
| caption =
| place_of_origin = [[Punjab]] or eastern [[Uttar Pradesh]]
| associated_cuisine = [[North Indian cuisine]], [[Punjabi cuisine]]
| region = [[Indian subcontinent]]
| course = Primarily [[breakfast]]
| type = [[Street food]], [[fast food]]
| served = Hot
| main_ingredient = [[Chana masala]], [[bhature]]
| similar_dish = [[Doubles (food)|Doubles]] (disputed)
}}
'''Chole bhature''' ({{IPA|hi|t͡ʃʰoː.leː bʱə.ʈuː.ɾeː}}; also known as '''channa bhatura'''<ref name="Vijayakar" />) is a [[North Indian cuisine|North Indian]] dish pairing [[Chana masala|chickpea curry]] with [[bhatura]], a deep-fried flatbread. A common [[street food]], chole bhature is often eaten as a breakfast dish. It is associated with [[Punjabi cuisine]], though various views exist on the dish's origin. It is also popular in Delhi, where it was introduced after the [[partition of India]]. By the 2010s, it had become a popular [[Indian fast food|fast food]] across India. The [[Indo-Trinidadian]] dish [[doubles (food)|doubles]] is controversially said to be an adaptation of chole bhature.

== Preparation and serving ==
Chole bhature is a combination of {{lang|hi-Latn|chole}} ([[chana masala]], or chickpea [[curry]]) and [[bhatura]], a deep-fried bread made from [[Maida (flour)|maida]] (refined wheat flour).<ref name="Rowlatt" />{{sfn|Galanakis|2020|p=214}} The {{lang|hi-Latn|chole}} is made by soaking [[Chickpea#Varieties|white chickpeas]] before [[pressure cooking]] them in a gravy of tomatoes, onions, and spices, with a thick consistency.{{sfn|Ananthanarayan|Dubey|Muley|Singhal|2019|pp=131, 157}} ''Chole'' differs from typical chana masala as it does not use tomatoes.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Falkowitz |first=Max |date=April 4, 2018 |title=Naan, dosa and beyond: A beginner's guide to Indian breads |url=https://www.mic.com/articles/188735/everything-you-need-to-know-about-indian-breads-a-beginners-guide-naan-dosa-paratha-roti-appam-puri-pav-idli-uttapam-vada-pesarattu |access-date=October 31, 2025 |work=[[Mic (media company)|Mic]]}}</ref> Styles of ''chole'' include {{lang|pa-Latn|pindi chole}}, whose dark color results from ingredients such as [[Phyllanthus emblica|amla]] or tea,<ref name="Vijayakar" /> and the {{lang|pa-Latn|pahadi}} style, which is red.<ref name="Patnaik & Singh" /> Bhature is made of dough that is [[fermented]]{{sfn|Ananthanarayan|Dubey|Muley|Singhal|2019|pp=131, 157}} before being rolled and fried, which causes it to quickly puff up before turning crispy and golden brown. The dish is served hot.<ref name="Rowlatt" />

Chole bhature is primarily a breakfast dish,{{sfn|Galanakis|2020|p=214}} sometimes accompanied with [[lassi]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tan |first=Alethea |date=August 21, 2019 |title=Beginner's Guide to Indian Breads: 9 Types to Start With |url=https://guide.michelin.com/tw/en/article/dining-out/guide-to-indian-breads-2019 |access-date=October 31, 2025 |work=[[Michelin Guide]]}}</ref> It may also be served at all times of day.<ref name="Rowlatt" /> It is commonly served as a [[street food]]{{sfn|Galanakis|2020|p=214}} and may be accompanied by onions, [[chutney]], [[Indian pickle|achaar]], or lemon slices.{{sfnm|1a1=Galanakis|1y=2020|1p=214|2a1=Ananthanarayan|2a2=Dubey|2a3=Muley|2a4=Singhal|2y=2019|2p=131}}<ref name="Statesman" />

== History ==
Chickpea curry dates back to the [[Mughlai cuisine|cuisine of the Mughal Empire]], possibly having spread along the empire's trade routes.<ref name="Statesman">{{Cite news |last= |date=6 June 2022 |title=Chole bhature! |url=https://www.thestatesman.com/supplements/notebook/chole-bhature-1503078678.html |access-date=21 September 2025 |work=[[The Statesman (India)|The Statesman]]}}</ref><ref name="Panwar">{{Cite news |last=Panwar |first=Himakshi |date=23 August 2023 |title=The Many Legends Behind The Origin Of Chole Bhature |url=https://www.outlooktraveller.com/experiences/food-and-drink/the-many-legends-behind-the-origin-of-chole-bhature |access-date=21 September 2025 |work=[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook Traveller]]}}</ref> Chole bhature's place of origin is debated. According to [[BBC News]]'s [[Justin Rowlatt]], the dish originated in [[Punjabi cuisine]], despite claims from other regions such as [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[Rajasthan]] and [[Himachal Pradesh]].<ref name="Rowlatt">{{Cite news |last=Rowlatt |first=Justin |author-link=Justin Rowlatt |date=2 July 2016 |title=The Indian street food bringing theatre to your plate |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-36659401 |access-date=20 September 2025 |work=[[BBC News]]}}</ref> Food writer [[Kunal Vijaykar]] believes it originated in [[Partition of Punjab|pre-partition]] Punjab and was based on the dish {{lang|pa-Latn|pindi chole}}, which is named for the city of [[Rawalpindi]], Pakistani Punjab.<ref name="Vijayakar">{{Cite news |last=Vijayakar |first=Kunal |author-link=Kunal Vijaykar |date=16 November 2018 |title=I would pick a well-made Chole Bhature over filet mignon, says Kunal Vijayakar |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/i-would-pick-a-well-made-chole-bhature-over-filet-mignon-says-kunal-vijayakar/story-qdcVplOHVDEe7zCXP8CJGM.html |access-date=20 September 2025 |work=[[Hindustan Times]]}}</ref> However, according to food scholar [[Charis Galanakis]], it originated in eastern Uttar Pradesh.{{sfn|Galanakis|2020|p=214}}

[[File:Kwality on Park Street (14839540155).jpg|thumb|[[Kwality Restaurant]] was one of the first establishments in Delhi to serve chole bhature. ''(Pictured: franchise location in [[Kolkata]])'']]
Chole bhature spread to Delhi in the 1940s,<ref name="Statesman" /> with differing claims over who introduced it. Peshori Lal Lamba, a native of [[Lahore]], moved to Delhi after the 1947 [[partition of India]] and opened [[Kwality Restaurant]] in the [[Connaught Place, New Delhi|Connaught Place]] neighbourhood.<ref name="Panwar" /> A fine-dining establishment that also sold [[Anglo-Indian cuisine]], it became primarily known for its chole bhature.<ref name="Awal">{{Cite news |last=Awal |first=Vernika |date=3 April 2025 |title=Bengaluru to Delhi, a Culinary Odyssey |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/delhi/2025/Apr/03/bengaluru-to-delhi-a-culinary-odyssey-2 |access-date=21 September 2025 |work=[[The New Indian Express]]}}</ref> Some consider Lamba to be the first to have paired {{lang|hi-Latn|chole}} with bhature. It is also widely believed that the dish was introduced to the city by Sita Ram,<ref name="Panwar" /> who also migrated from Lahore around this time. He migrated to Delhi with his son, Diwan Chand, and began selling chole bhature, a dish that had been popular in his hometown, from a [[food cart]]. This later became the establishment [[Sita Ram Diwan Chand]] in the [[Paharganj]] neighbourhood.<ref name="Awal" /><ref name="Manmohan">{{Cite news |last=Manmohan |first=Nutan |date=24 June 2023 |title=Sita Ram Diwan Chand, Paharganj's one-dish restaurant selling Lahori chole bhature since 1947 |url=https://theprint.in/feature/sita-ram-diwan-chand-paharganjs-one-dish-restaurant-selling-lahori-chole-bhature-since-1947/1640162/ |access-date=20 September 2025 |work=[[ThePrint]]}}</ref>

Beginning around the 1990s, the dish spread beyond North India to the rest of the country, becoming a typical dish at vegetarian establishments by the 2010s.<ref name="Sreedharan">{{Cite web|last=Sreedharan|first=Das|title=Chole Bhature Sprinkled with Nostalgia|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/food/2016/jan/30/chole-bhature-sprinkled-with-nostalgia-875493.html|access-date=2021-04-27|website=[[The New Indian Express]]|date=30 January 2016}}</ref> It and other Punjabi dishes—such as {{lang|pa-Latn|[[tikki]]}} and {{lang|pa-Latn|[[dahi bhalla]]}}—became popular in [[Indian fast food]], alongside the more popular [[South Indian cuisine]].{{sfn|Nandy|2004|p=13}} As the dish gained popularity outside of India,<ref name="Statesman" /> International Chole Bhature Day was created in 2012 by Delhi-based [[Facebook]] user Shashank Aggarwal, along with Anuradha Gupta. They chose the date of 2 October as it coincided with an existing public holiday, [[Gandhi Jayanti]].<ref name="Garg">{{Cite news |last=Garg |first=Ruchika |date=3 October 2016 |title=Int'l Chhole Bhature Day: Divided by cultures, united by love for 'C Bats' |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/art-and-culture/international-chhole-bhature-day-divided-by-cultures-yet-united-by-the-love-for-c-bats/story-6ucmuB0ReNFe4xImUP0elL.html |access-date=21 September 2025 |work=[[Hindustan Times]]}}</ref>

Chole bhature is often said to be the origin of the [[Indo-Trinidadian]] dish [[doubles (food)|doubles]], especially in the view of Indians, though this is disputed.{{sfn|Jayaram|2022|p=274}} This hypothesis notes the similarity between chole bhature, when served as a [[wrap (food)|wrap]], and doubles. However, many people consider doubles to have uniquely originated in Trinidad and Tobago.{{sfn|Nacchia|2022|p=227}} Badru Deen, a member of the family credited with the invention of doubles, wrote that the two dishes are very different; sociologist N. Jayaram supports this opinion.{{sfn|Jayaram|2022|p=274}}

== Popularity ==
Chole bhature is a popular [[fast food]]{{sfn|Kaushik|Narang|Parakh|2011|p=98}} and breakfast food in [[North India]].{{sfn|Kundu|Dutta|2020|p=45}} Chole bhature is a popular dish for celebrations.<ref name="Statesman" /> It is eaten during the Punjabi festival of [[Vaisakhi]]{{sfn|Priya|Saxena|Tiwari|2024|p=1104}} and other [[List of Sikh festivals|Sikh festivals]].{{sfn|Bladholm|2000|p=58}}

In Delhi, chole bhature is a traditional street food{{sfn|Kundu|Dutta|2020|p=48, 51}} that is recognised by tourists.{{sfn|Gupta|Roy|Promsivapallop|2021|pp=491, 493}} The city has many establishments known for the dish, and residents widely debate which is best.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Verma |first=Rahul |date=22 June 2019 |title=Mission Chholey Bhaturey! |url=https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/food/mission-chholey-bhaturey/article18400380.ece |access-date=21 September 2025 |work=[[The Hindu]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Basu |first=Aalokitaa |date=11 June 2025 |title=Chole bhature ranks among 'best breakfasts' in the world: Top Delhi-NCR reccos for a quick feast! |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/htcity/htcity-delhi-junction/chole-bhature-ranked-among-best-breakfasts-in-the-world-by-taste-atlas-top-delhi-ncr-spots-for-a-quick-feast-101749631493086.html |access-date=20 September 2025 |work=[[Hindustan Times]]}}</ref> In addition to Kwality Restaurant and Sita Ram Diwan Chand,<ref name="Awal" /> these include Chache Di Hatti in [[Kamla Nagar]], which receives very long lines during its short opening hours.<ref name="Patnaik & Singh">{{Cite news |last1=Patnaik |first1=Amit |last2=Singh |first2=Chowder |date=3 May 2019 |title=Fried and tested |url=https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/food/fried-and-tested/article27023007.ece |access-date=20 September 2025 |work=[[The Hindu]]}}</ref>{{sfn|Sinha|2015|p=41}} Chole bhature is the only dish served at Sita Ram Diwan Chand, which uses [[paneer]] in its bhature.<ref name="Manmohan" /> Among students of [[Delhi University]], chole bhature has been known as ''C bats'' since around the 1970s.<ref name="Statesman" /><ref name="Garg" /> Mumbai also has many chole bhature establishments, especially around the [[Sion, Mumbai|Sion]] neighbourhood.<ref name="Vijayakar" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}
=== Works cited ===
* {{Cite book |date=2019 |last1=Ananthanarayan |first1=Lakshmi |last2=Dubey |first2=Kriti Kumari |last3=Muley |first3=Abhijeet B. |last4=Singhal |first4=Rekha S. |editor-last=Al-Khusaibi |editor-first=Mohammed |editor2-last=Al-Habsi |editor2-first=Nasser |editor3-last=Shafiur Rahman |editor3-first=Mohammad |title=Traditional Foods |chapter=Indian Traditional Foods: Preparation, Processing and Nutrition |series=Food Engineering Series |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-24620-4 |isbn=978-3-030-24619-8 |issn=1571-0297}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bladholm |first=Linda |title=The Indian Grocery Store Demystified |date=12 August 2000 |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers]] |url=https://archive.org/details/indiangrocerysto00blad/page/58/mode/2up?q=bhature |url-access=registration |via=[[Internet Archive]] |isbn=1580631436}}
* {{Cite book|last=Galanakis |first=Charis M. |author-link=Charis Galanakis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-bvbDwAAQBAJ|title=Gastronomy and Food Science|date=2020-09-22|publisher=[[Academic Press]]|isbn=978-0-12-820438-2}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Gupta |first1=Vikas |last2=Roy |first2=Hiran |last3=Promsivapallop |first3=Pornpisanu |date=2021-10-02 |title=Local cuisine image dimensions and its impact on foreign tourist's perceived food contentment in Delhi |journal=Tourism Recreation Research |volume=46 |issue=4 |pages=487–499 |doi=10.1080/02508281.2020.1816762 |issn=0250-8281}}
* {{Cite book |last=Jayaram |first=N. |chapter=Culture and the Community: Language and Foodways |date=2022 |title=From Indians in Trinidad to Indo-Trinidadians |series=GeoJournal Library |pages=253–281 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-981-19-3367-7_11 |access-date=2025-09-20 |place=Singapore |publisher=[[Springer Nature|Springer Nature Singapore]] |doi=10.1007/978-981-19-3367-7_11 |isbn=978-981-19-3366-0}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Kaushik |first1=Jaya Shankar |last2=Narang |first2=Manish |last3=Parakh |first3=Ankit |date=1 February 2011 |title=Fast food consumption in children |journal=Indian Pediatrics |volume=48 |issue=2 |pages=97–101 |doi=10.1007/s13312-011-0035-8 |pmid=21378418 |issn=0019-6061}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Kundu |first1=Aditi |chapter=Migration and Entry to Urban Street Food Market: A Study of Selected Street Food Vendors in Delhi |date=2020 |title=Urbanization and Regional Sustainability in South Asia |pages=39–54 |editor-last=Bandyopadhyay |editor-first=Sumana |place=Cham |publisher=[[Springer International Publishing]] |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-23796-7_4 |isbn=978-3-030-23795-0 |last2=Dutta |first2=Sayak |editor2-last=Pathak |editor2-first=Chitta Ranjan |editor3-last=Dentinho |editor3-first=Tomaz Ponce}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Nacchia |first=Francesco |date=2022-12-23 |title=Hybrid Indo-Trinidadian identities and tasty food: a multimodal critical discourse analysis of 'Doubles with Slight Pepper' |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/mc-2022-0003/html |journal=Multimodal Communication |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=215–233 |doi=10.1515/mc-2022-0003 |issn=2230-6587|url-access=subscription }}
* {{Cite journal |last=Nandy |first=Ashis |date=May 2004 |title=The Changing Popular Culture of Indian Food: Preliminary Notes |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0262728004042760 |journal=[[South Asia Research]] |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=9–19 |doi=10.1177/0262728004042760 |issn=0262-7280|url-access=subscription }}
* {{Cite book |last1=Priya |first1=Nishi |chapter=A Study on the Influence of Ethnic Foods on Culture, Post-COVID-19 |date=2024 |title=International Handbook of Skill, Education, Learning, and Research Development in Tourism and Hospitality |pages=1097–1108 |editor-last=Sharma |editor-first=Anukrati |place=Singapore |publisher=[[Springer Nature|Springer Nature Singapore]] |doi=10.1007/978-981-97-4318-6_71 |isbn=978-981-97-4317-9 |last2=Saxena |first2=Rajat |last3=Tiwari |first3=Kapil Shanker}}
* {{Cite book |last=Sinha |first=Dheeraj |chapter=Safe Choices: Why Do Indians Like Standing in the Longest Queues? |date=2015 |title=India Reloaded |pages=40–55 |place=London |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan UK]] |doi=10.1057/9781137367105_4 |isbn=978-1-349-67640-8}}

{{Indian Dishes}}
{{Pakistani dishes}}

[[Category:Food combinations]]
[[Category:North Indian cuisine]]
[[Category:Indian fast food]]
[[Category:Street food in India]]
[[Category:Indian wheat dishes]]
[[Category:Chickpea dishes]]
[[Category:Pakistani cuisine]]
[[Category:Punjabi cuisine]]
[[Category:Uttar Pradeshi cuisine]]

Chole bhature - Revision history

EthanMarko2 at 17:52, 25 November 2025