Friday 5 October 2012

Channa / Chole Masala

Channa or chole masala is a popular Indian food, though it is from Punjabi cuisine. It is a delicious and easy recipe goes well with all Indian Breads.  In hotels you might have observed this being served with Batura (Deep fried puffed bread).

In this recipe, I have used a new method of dipping tea bag in the gravy (does it sound weird?).  Don’t panic, this is to give a nice deep colour to the gravy.  I saw this in a cookery show and tried it on couple of occassions; it came out very well!



Ingredients

Channa / Chick peas / Garbanzo Beans – 1 ½ cups
Onion – 2 (finely chopped)
Tomato - 3 (finely chopped)
Ginger garlic paste – 2 tsp
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Red chilli powder – 1 ½ tsp
Corriander powder – 3 tsp
Garam masala powder – ½ tsp
Asafoetida – ¼ tsp
Ajwain – ½ tsp
Sugar – ½ tsp
Salt – as required
Green chillies – 1 or 2 (finely chopped)
Corriander leaves – 2 tsp (chopped)
Tea bag – 1 (optional)

To Temper:

Bay leaves – 1
Cloves – 3
Cinnamon - 1
Cumin seeds -1 tsp
Pepper corns – ½ tsp
Cardamom - 1
Oil & Ghee – as required

Directions

Soak the channa overnight or nearly for 7 to 8 hours.

Pressure cook channa by adding little salt and water, until it becomes soft.

Take a kadai and add oil and ghee; once it becomes hot temper it with bay leaves, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, pepper corns and cumin seeds.

After it splutters, add finely chopped onion and fry till it turns golden brown.

Next add ginger garlic paste and all the spice powders (cumin powder, redchilli powder, corriander powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder) and asafoetida.

Sauté well till the raw smell goes, if it is sticking to the pan, add little water.

Now add the finely chopped tomatoes with sugar to balance the acidity of tomatoes.

After it mashes well add the cooked channa with water, ajwain and chopped green chillies.

Allow it to boil till the gravy thickens.

Reduce the flame; add the tea bag (if you want give that nice, deep colour to the gravy!) and let the string hang on the side of the closed pan. 

Let it simmer for 10 minutes or till the oil comes out. Discard the tea bag and garnish with the chopped coriander leaves and serve hot.

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