: How Chole Bhature Travelled Through History Made India Fall in Love #IndiaNEWS #Food The romance between Delhi and its chole bhature is a love story like no other. Every year, as the biting

How Chole Bhature Travelled Through History Made India Fall in Love #IndiaNEWS #Food
The romance between Delhi and its chole bhature is a love story like no other.

Every year, as the biting cold settles over the capital, hundreds turn to their favourite bowl of spicy chana (chickpeas) and deep-fried puris to keep them warm.

There are many versions of the tale of how this delicious snack made its way here. And like every love story, there are twists and turns in this saga as well.

But before we get to that, for novices, what really is chole bhature?

Heaven on a plate

The streets of Delhi have gone down in history for their chole bhature. Hundreds queue up everyday to get their share of the delicious dish that comprises two parts, one being the spicy chickpea curry and the other the bhatura, a type of fried bread. The union of the two can be described as ‘made in heaven’.

The duo is often paired with lassi or a pickle or even a sprinkling of onions to elevate the taste.

But how did the dish make its way through history to the stalls of Delhi?

Chole Bhature, Picture credits: Instagram: @zayka_zest

The Partition of 1947

Let’s trace our steps back to when India was emerging from the clutches of colonial rule, but at a great cost for its own people.

The Partition of 1947 wasn’t simply a line drawn to separate the Indian union into two. It was rather a division of families and love, of cultures and norms.

Families were shattered, lives were lost, and daily routine came to a standstill. But as history has suggested time and again, good ideas can arise from even the most helpless of times.

The story goes that due to the mass exodus, there was an influx of refugees on both sides. Hindus were scrambling to get to the part that was now in India, while Muslims trudged to the new Pakistan.

In this chaos, a gentleman named Peshori Lal Lamba, who had migrated from Lahore, brought to India not just his hope for a better life, but also a recipe that would go down in Delhi’s history.

He set up the Kwality restaurant in Connaught Place and along with his iconic chole, began serving sandwiches and other snacks.

While some say that Lamba introduced Delhiites to their beloved dish, others claim it was another gentleman Sita Ram, who started Sita Ram Diwan Chand, which interestingly also serves what people call “the world’s best chole�?.

Legend says Sita Ram migrated from West Punjab to Delhi with his son Diwan Chand and sold the first plate of chole bhature for 12 annas. Today, the business is run by his grandson Pran Nath Kohli.

Take whichever story resonates with you best, but regardless, you would agree that like many other cuisines and dishes, the Partition influenced chole bhature as we know and love today.