Masquerading under the moniker of Chola Bhatura, the quintissential street food king of Punjabi cuisine is the humble "Chana Masala" which loosely translates to North Indian Spicy Chickpeas, well not really. It basically means Spicy Chickpeas, I just added the North Indian bit. Every home has their own way of making "Channa Masala and there are so many different recipes for this favorite item out there! My special thoughts of this dish, are always when combined with Batura. TH always loves Channa Batura, steaming hot with a side of Channa Masala, doled up with sliced raw onions and a dash of lemon. I have at least 3 versions of this dish, but I can never really be satisfied. Somewhere along the line, as I was shooting this pic, I got tickled with the aromas wafting, and was in danger of scooping a spoonful then and there but reasoning prevailed!!!... I have always loved this very fragrant, very spicy dish. It is responsible for my love affair with the mighty chickpea. My amma used to make this with a lot of love and care, slowly simmered over low to medium heat for almost 1 hour and it was absolutely gorgeous in its complexity and flavours. She always soaked the chickpeas overnight with a dash of bicarbonate of soda or baking powder. And I continued that tradition for a long time before I developed the ease of canned chickpeas. Because, I do believe that dry chickpeas that are soaked impart a more robust, more authentic flavour to this wonderful dish than the canned chickpeas swimming in some sticky liquid (which has to be completely rinsed off). So one of these days, I might take a clean break from my hectic schedule to go old school and cook the "chana" as my mum used to make. This is one of the reasons I love this curry so much. It is really healthy and it is a fantastic meal. It will leave you feeling totally satisfied because the flavour is really rich. Also the ingredients are nutritious and will fill you for a long time. I even tried this on my amma, dad who is a carnivore and he loved it. I do love hot chilies but often prefer my Indian curries to be milder and more aromatic. I want to taste the cinnamon, cardamom, coriander and cumin in this recipe so I only use a small amount of chili but this is just my preference. If you want it hotter either add more dried chili or blend fresh ones into the curry paste.
Ingredients :-
- Chana (Chick Peas) 1 big cup
- Onion paste 1 cup
- Tomatoes 2
- Ginger garlic paste 1 tbsp
- Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
- Red Chili powder 2 tbsp
- Green Chilies 3
- Cashew nuts 8
- Tamarind paste 2 tbsp
- Coriander powder 1 tbsp
- Cumin seeds 1 tsp
- Garam masala powder 1 tbsp
- Oil 8 tbsp
- Butter 3 tbsp
- Salt to taste
- Sugar 1 tbsp
- Coriander leaves
- Fresh coconut paste 1/2 cup (or) Coconut milk
Preparation :-
- First take a bowl add chick peas, then add water and soak it over night. Next day take a cooker add soaked chick peas, salt and then cook it for 2 vissels.
- Next start next process to make the curry. Now take a pan add oil to heat, when oil and butter is heated then add onion paste, ginger garlic paste and fry it for lite gold color.
- When the onion is came gold color, then add tomato pieces, green chilie pieces, turmeric powder, salt, and fry it for tomato pieces for soft.
- Fry it for oil will oozes out... When oil is oozes out then add red chili powder, cashew nuts, coconut paste again fry it for.
- Now add coriander powder and mix it well for. Again fry it for oil oozes out. Then add boiled chick peas and mix it well, then cook i t for 5 minutes.
- After add 1 glass water, tamarind paste and mix it, then boil it in low flame for 10 minutes.
- When the chick peas is totally boiled then add sugar, garam masala powder and mix it, then add coriander leaves again mix then turn to a serving bowl......
So tasty and spicy dish 'Chana Masala' curry recipe... You can serve this with onion rings.. You can serve this recipe with chapati, roti, puri.. Its great combination to eat this curry.. So friends try this recipe in your home and then seed to a feed back to me...... :-)
