Kala Chana Masala / Black Bengal Gram Curry.

“Kala Chana Masala / Black Whole Bengal Gram Semi Dry Curry” … A delicious semi dry dish that is every childs delight when served with well puffed poori / batura … tastes great when served with roti / parathas / naan our our very own panpolo too ... Yum Yum … 

** Chana masala dishes are something that can be adapted in various methods. I myself have quite a few ones that I will add on as and when I prepare. Again, it tastes great when prepared with chick peas ie white kabuli chana but you can prepare the same using black chana ie Black Whole Bengal Gram too. My hubby sometimes has the habit of suddenly bursting out exotic dishes names out of the blue and it leaves me in a tango. Sometimes he just mentions a name and if the same has not been cooked for sometime it makes me that much more guilty, then the name or should I say reminder keeps making rounds in my mind till finally I relent and go ahead to make it. How I wish he would keep giving me names of dishes, it would help me a lot by making my mind tension free from thinking what to cook everyday.  Like today when he saw that I had cooked kala chana, he asked me if I was preparing chana masala and I was left thinking now what ? Next he tells me sheepishly that it’s children's day and that is every child's fav. Which again made me think who was the child here ?? I was all set to make the traditional Amchi chane gashi with kadgi / raw jackfruit for lunch and now I was not sure if I should go ahead with it. I had not yet cooked the kadgi so there was still time for a U turn on the preparations. Well, to cut the story short, I went about preparing Kala Chana Masala and rest is before you to see. Sharing my very own style of Kala Chana Masala here, Do try out and enjoy with your family and friends. Tastes best with poori / batura. 

** Here is my simple method of preparing “Kala Chana Masala / Black Whole Bengal Gram Semi Dry Curry” … My Style …. 

** Ingredients : 

Kala Chana / Whole Black Bengal Gram : 2 cups. 

Onion / Piyav / Kanda : 1+ 1 large sized onions. 

Tomato : 1 + 1 large sized cut into small pieces and kept separately. 

Tamarind : a small chana sized. 

Garlic / Losun / Lehsun : 8-10 peeled and chopped. 

Ginger / Alley / Adrak : ½ inch piece cut into pieces. 

Green Chilly / Tarni Mirsanga / Hirvi Mirchi : 5-6 cut into pieces. 

Whole Cardamoms / Ellaichi / Yellu : 3-4 

Bay Leaves / Tej Patta : 2 

Curry leaves / Kadipatta / Karbevu : 8-10 

Kasuri Methi / Dried Methi Leaves : 2 tblsp (easily available in stores) 

Butter / Loni : One lemon sized ball. 

Salt to taste 

Oil : 2-3 tblsp 

** For Masala to be Ground : 

Coconut : ½ cup fresh and finely grated. 

Kashmiri Red Chilly Powder : 1 tblsp. 

Chana Masala Powder : 1 tblsp (I used store bought readily available ones) 

Coriander / Dhania / Kothimbir Powder :1 tblsp 

Cumin / Jeera Powder : 1 tsp 

Fennel / Badisep / Saunf Powder : ¼ tsp 

Haldi / Turmeric Powder : one large pinch. 

** For Serving : One finely chopped Onion / Kanda / Piyav. 

** Soak black / kala chana overnight or for 8 hours in plenty of water. Then wash in plenty of water again, rinse well and put it in pressure cooker with water that is about 2 inches above the level of the chana and pressure cook on medium flame to 2 whistles. Lower the heat and cook for another 5 minutes and the remove from flame. Let the pressure fall on its own. Once you are able to open the lid, do so and allow the cooked chana to cool down till just warm. Drain off the cooked water and keep aside, we will need it for grinding of ingredients. 

** Take 2 handful of the cooked and cooled black / kala chana and put it in the mixer grinder along with little bit of the cooked water and grind to a smooth paste. Remove and keep this aside. 

** Now add in only out the two large sized tomato chopped into pieces along with a small chana sized tamarind and grind to a very smooth paste. Do not add in any water while grinding as the water content in the tomato is enough for grinding of the paste. Keep this also aside ready. 

** Now add in garlic, ginger and green chillies all cut into pieces into the grinder and grind to a paste. Remove and keep this also ready aside. 

** Again add in one out of two large sized onion, skinned and roughly chopped into the grinder and grind to a smooth paste with little bit of cooked water added on if necessary. Keep this also ready aside. 

** Now add in grated coconut that has been roasted for 2-3 minutes in a kadai or till slightly crisp, into the mixer grind along with kashmiri red chilly powder, chana masala powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, fennel powder, turmeric and grind to a very smooth paste with the addition of cooked water as much as necessary only. The paste should be ground to a very fine paste. 

** Once you finish grinding the masala to a fine paste, remove and keep it also ready aside along with the other ingredients kept ready. Now add all of the remaining cooked water into the grinder and mix well and keep this water also ready aside to add in as and when  is necessary while cooking the chana masala. 

** Heat oil in a thick bottomed kadai, when hot lower the heat to medium and add in the finely chopped onions and fry them till they turn light brown in color. When the color of onions have changed add in the whole cardamom slit into two along with curry leaves and bay leaves and further fry for a second. 

** Now add in the ground onion paste and mix well, keep frying on medium heat till the rawness off the onions are done with. Add in the green chilly-ginger-garlic paste and continue to fry for a few minutes. Now add in the tomato-tamarind paste and mix well, let cook on medium heat for a few minutes. If you find that the ingredients are getting burnt at the bottom add in a little bit of the masala water kept ready aside. 

** Now add in the ground coconut-masala powder paste and mix well. Fry for a good 5 minutes. Again if you find that the ingredients are getting burnt at the bottom add some more of the masala water kept ready aside and continue to fry. Finally add in the ground black / kala chana paste, remaining chopped tomato and the cooked chana and mix well. Add in the remaining masala water too, salt to taste and mix well. If you still find the gravy too thick, you can add in some water. 

** Mix well and cook on medium fire keeping a constant watch till you see bubbles appearing on top. Now lower the heat to minimum and cook covered on low heat for a good 5-10 minutes mixing in between to avoid getting burnt at bottom. Finally add in a lemon sized butter and cleaned kasuri methi and mix well. Let cook for another 2-3 minutes, then remove from fire and keep it covered aside for 20-30 minutes, for the favors to seep in. 

** “Kala Chana Masala / Black Whole Bengal Gram Semi Dry Curry” is done and ready to be served. Always serve chana masala topped with finely chopped fresh onions, they taste delicious that way. You can serve chana masala as a side dish with any of accompaniment dishes of your choice but tastes best with batura, poori, panpolo, parathas, roti, aloo parathas, naan etc. 

** You can even serve them with pulav like I did, it was children's day and I was pressed for time, I was already late and the dish was a last minute change on thoughts, so I had no time to prepare poori or batura and somehow I did not feel like purchasing roti or parathas from stores as I try to avoid them as they are loaded with oil, to keep them soft. So, I served these with jeera rice, mackerel fish curry and sheera for dessert. 

** Note : You can also garnish with coriander leaves if kasuri methi is not available. Kasuri methi imparts a different taste to dishes, so sometimes for chicken and punjabi masala dishes I do add them on. You may choose whatever is available or that which suits your taste in your family. 

** Note : Again addition of butter towards the end is also optional, you may leave it out if you want to keep it healthier and without added on calories. The taste butter imparts to dishes like these are awesome so a little bit too goes a long way. You can serve them on individual basis also to those who would like to relish it without guilt. 

** Note : You can also leave out addition of tamarind while grinding the tomatoes and just use the tomato in the curry. In which case you can serve the chana masala with lemon wedges which will also give the desired tanginess to the curry. Serve the lemon on individual basis along with the finely chopped onions. 

** I have also included many types of dishes both Konkani Saraswat and other using both black and white chana as gravy dishes, bhaji and salad too, you can use the search option for the recipes of the same in this Blog. Do try out various dishes and enjoy them with your family and friends. Give me a feedback on my dishes and let me know how your family enjoyed them. Also let me know if you made any changes that enhanced the taste or if you have any query too you can drop the same in the comment box. 

** An Earnest Request : There are many more recipes of different types in the blog. For all my Recipes, use the search option or the label section in the Blog. If you are still not able to find it or have a query, please leave a message in comment section or mail me the same. I will try my best to get back to you as soon as possible. Do try out various types of dishes included in the Blog and Enjoy them with your family and friends and do give me a feedback if possible. I have also started a food group for by the name "KONKANI DELICACIES" where in you will find many more recipes by members and you too can share some of your own. The link to the group is posted on the left side of the blog page. Do join us in our culinary journey. I strongly believe in Sharing and always endorse that "Sharing Is Caring" … Thank You ….