KADALA/BLACK CHANA CURRY - KERALA STYLE

This yummy kadala curry/black chana/chickpea curry is an all time favorite in my family & if it is served with puttu/appam/iddiyappam then you can be sure that everyone will lick the plate clean!! My sis gets very envious whenever I tell her, “Hey, I made kadala curry with mummy’s recipe”. Now, let me share some healthy notes on chickpea. Chickpeas are a helpful source of zinc, folate and protein. According to the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics chickpea seeds contain on average:

• 23% protein
• 64% total carbohydrates (47% starch, 6% soluble sugar)
• 5% fat
• 6% crude fiber
• 3% ash

There is also a high reported mineral content:

• phosphorus (340 mg/100 g)
• calcium
• magnesium (140 mg/100g)
• iron (7 mg/100 g)
• zinc (3 mg/100 g)

Recent studies by government agencies have also shown that they can assist in lowering of cholesterol in the bloodstream.

INGREDIENTS :

½ kg black chena/kadala

1 tbsp parboiled rice

5 pearl onion

1 cup grated coconut

½ tsp turmeric powder

 1 tsp red chilli powder

1 tbsp coriander powder
½ tbsp garam masala powder
1½ tbsp meat masala powder

1 tomato chopped

3-4 green chillies diagonally cut

1 tsp of ginger cut into long pieces

1 medium onion chopped into thin slices

1 tbsp mustard

4 dried red chillies

Curry leaves

Salt

3 tbsp Coconut/canola/refined oil

LET'S COOK : 

1. Soak kadala/black chana in water, overnight.

   
    2. Cook the black chana with salt and enough water.

3. Heat 2 tbsp of oil and add the raw parboiled rice. When it starts to change color add pearl onions and some curry leaves and fry until the pearl onions become transparent. Add grated coconut, turmeric powder, red chilly powder, coriander powder and sauté until the raw smell is gone. At this time add garam masala, meat masala and sauté for 2 min.

4. Grind the masala mix into a fine paste.

   5. In a deep bottom pan add ground masala, 2 cups of water, cooked chana dal and cook until the gravy is thicker.

    

   6. In another pan put the remaining oil, mustard, curry leaves, dry red chillies, green chillies, ginger, onion and sauté until the onion turns light brown in color. At this stage add chopped tomatoes and sauté until it becomes soft.

7. Add the onion-tomato mix and salt to the chana and cook until it starts boiling.

The Spicy chana/kadala curry is ready. This is best eaten with puttu/appam.