BLACK CHANA MASALA CHICKPEAS CURRY

Course: Sauce based Veg – Mains

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Serves: 4 to 6 

Ingredients:

To pressure cook

• 1 and ½  cup of dried black channa
• 1 tsp rock salt
• 1 tbsp ghee or any oil of your choice
• Water 3.5 cups

Masala or tadka:

• 2 tbsp ghee or any oil of your choice
• ½ sp hing powder
• 1 tsp of jeera (cumin seeds)
• ½ tsp of black or brown rye (mustard seeds)
• 2 cloves
• 2 brown cardamoms
• 1 tbsp of dry fenugreek leaves (methi)
• 1 medium onion, 1” ginger and 3 cloves of garlic, chopped in food processor or cut into tiny pieces
• ¾ tsp of turmeric powder
• 1 tsp of coriander powder
• 250 g chopped tomato or 3 medium size fresh tomatoes chopped in food processor
• 1 tsp tomato puree
• ½ an inch of unwaxed lemon rind, nicely grated
• 1 green chilli, chopped or cut into tiny pieces (optional)
• ½ tsp of red chilli flakes (optional)
• 1 tbsp of lemon juice
• ½ tsp of garam masala
• Few strings of coriander, cut coarsely

Method:

1. Place the channa in a large pot and rinse these 3 times,  Add enough water,  cover it and leave it overnight to soak.  
2. In the morning, drain the water in which these were soaked. Add fresh water and transfer these to a pressure cooker, Add salt and ghee.
3. Keep the pressure cooker on high-medium heat for at least 4 whistles. Let the pressure release naturally. At this point chana  should have been completely cooked. You should be able to mash these with your fingers.

Tadka or masala:

1. To make tadka, add ghee or oil in a medium size pan. As soon as it becomes a little hot, add hing powder, cumin and mustard seeds. When it starts bubbling, add cloves, cardamom, fenugreek leaves and stir for one minute and add onion mixture. Reduce the heat and let it cook for 5 to 6 minutes or until it has turned into light pink. Add chopped tomato, tomato puree, lemon rind, green chili and chili  flakes and mix these nicely.
2. Cover the pan so that the tomatoes are combined properly and it turns into a smooth paste. Leave this covered for another 7 to 8 minutes. This paste should be stirred occasionally so that it does not get burned.
3. Add the tadka to the channa. If the curry seems watery, some of the chana should be taken out, mashed and added to the curry again. This will make the curry thicker.
4. After adding the masala, the curry should be kept on the heat for another 10 to  minutes to simmer.
5. Add lemon juice. More salt can be added as per the taste.

• Add garam masala and garnish with coriander leaves

Special Notes:

1. Serve with  plain rice, jeera rice or chapatis and enjoy.
2. Oil can be used to make the recipe vegan.
3. This dish is one of the favorite dishes of children