Chana Masala

Do you like it when others take you for granted? Do you tend to take others for granted? Have you noticed that there is always an aura of negativity surrounding the phrase “taking for granted”, be it people or things? Do you feel like you are answering a “psychology” questionnaire, instead of reading a write up on a  food blog? Well, I got you there ;)

If you ask me, my immediate response to the first question would be a definite “no”. I dont like anybody taking me for granted, having said that… there are times when I feel that I've been taken granted by “others” and I feel ok with it. It depends on who the so called “others” are. If it's done by people who are dear to me, I overlook it. If you dont make some concessions with your loved ones, well what's the point of having such relationships? But then,  you need to clearly define the “others” group, otherwise be prepared for a bumpy ride.

It works both ways for me, the way I dont mind taking it for granted, I sometimes tend to do the same with them. I do that only with those people whom I believe, that no matter what I do, they will be there for me. Ok, if you are wondering why I'm going blah blah with psycho babbles, here you go.. you might have noticed that I wasn't posting for quite sometime. Not only that, I also didnt reply to the comments and mails for sometime. My inbox was kinda flooded and I actually felt so guilty about it. But then, the thing is for the past one month or so, I somehow developed a kind of computer aversion, if you can call that. I dont know why it happened, I couldnt sit in front of the comp for more than 10 mins at a time, even that too felt strenuous!  May be I'm just going through one of the “phases”. I always have diff phases, more about that later.

Though I didnt post anything new here, I tried many new recipes and clicked pics too. So just the other day when I was going through these pics, I felt sad. I was thinking.. what's the whole point of having these pics if I cant share it with you? So that triggered this post, hopefully my “computer aversion phase” phases out soon..

Before going to the recipe,I'm really sorry, if you felt that I was taking you for granted without replying to your mails and comments. I hope, you know that, I treasure your feedback and support very much.

Now coming to the recipe, finally! This is one of the most requested recipes… I've been on the look out for a good recipe of Chana masala for a long time. Came across a few but it called for spices which I dont use on a regular basis. During our last trip home, Jose's mom made this curry. The nice masala smell coming from the kitchen woke me up from my afternoon nap and lead me straight to the kitchen. I wasted no time tasting it. The curry has a very good flavour. What I like the best is it doesnt call for any unusual ingredients unlike the other recipes I came across. I was very happy with the consistency too. So here ends my search for a good Chana Masala recipe. Hope you'll also enjoy it.

Here is the recipe…

Heat oil in a deep and wide pan. Add crushed ingredients. When it browns, add all masala powders and mix well…

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Add chopped tomatoes and salt, cook till tomatoes becomes soft. Add cooked chana with left over stock and mix well…

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Bring it to a boil and reduce flame to lowest. Cook for 10 mins…

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Add tomato puree and coriander leaves. Mix well, cook for another 5-7 mins…

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Chana Masala

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Course: Curry, Side Dish

Cuisine: Indian, South Indian

Servings: 3 -4

Author: Maria Jose Martin

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 cup Chana (White chickpeas) ( soaked overnight)
• ▢ 2 big Onion
• ▢ 1/2 – 1 tbsp Ginger and garlic (each)
• ▢ 1 Green chilli
• ▢ 1.5 – 2 tsp Chilli powder
• ▢ 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
• ▢ 1/2 – 1 tbsp Coriander powder
• ▢ 1/2 tsp Cumin powder
• ▢ 1/2 – 1 tsp Garam masala
• ▢ 1 big Tomato (chopped)
• ▢ 1 tbsp Tomato puree (I used readymade puree)
• ▢ 2 tbsp Coriander leaves (chopped)
• ▢ Oil (I used sunflower oil)
• ▢ Salt

Instructions

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  Discard the soaked water from chana. Pressure cook chana with 3 cups water (refer notes for details) till it's done. Add salt to the cooked chana and mix well.
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  Blend onion, ginger, garlic and green chilli in a blender for few seconds to crush it, no need to make it a paste.
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  Heat oil in a deep and wide pan. Add crushed ingredients. When it browns, add all masala powders and mix well. Add 1 tbsp stock to mix it well. Add chopped tomatoes, salt and 1/4 cup of stock, cook till tomatoes becomes soft.
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  Add cooked chana with left over stock and mix well. Bring it to a boil and reduce flame to lowest. Cook for 10 mins. Add tomato puree and coriander leaves. Mix well, cook for another 5-7 mins.

Notes

Pressure cooking chana – Cook on full / high flame till the first whistle comes. After that reduce flame to low-medium and cook for 4 more whistles. Switch off the gas and keep it closed till pressure drops, around 20 mins.

You can adjust the qty of water to suit your gravy consistency requirements. If you prefer more gravy, add hot water to the curry and cook for some time. If you want a thicker / richer gravy, mash 2-3 tbsp of cooked chana with a wooden spoon and add to the curry along with cooked chana.

Before adding tomato puree, do a test test and add accordingly. The curry can be refrigerated for 3-4 days.

Tried this recipe? Let others know by…mentioning @mariasmenu or tagging #mariasmenu

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