Kala Chana Usali (dry sabji- festival dish)

Black Chickpeas are one of the staple legumes available in the pantry of any Indian kitchen. Loaded with proteins they taste delicious once it is cooked. It has inbuilt creamy texture and soft taste to it. It is a filling legume and hence there a few dishes that are made during religious fasting days. Usually, when a dish is made on a fasting day, people avoid adding harsh spices like ginger, garlic, onion etc and try to keep it simple. Here is one such dish which is made every now and then with minimum spices and yet it tastes great! Less is more is apt for this particular recipe.

One can substitute it with regular chickpeas too. These days you can get cooked chickpeas in cans and don't have to go through the process of soaking it for 8 hours and then pressure cooking it. I prefer doing it that way but if your schedule doesn't allow you with reminders and elaborate preps, go ahead and buy a tin of chickpeas. Remember to drain out the liquid (high content of sodium) and rinse it nicely a couple of times before using it in any dish.

During the 9 days of Navaratri people from all over the sub-continent of India do fasting. This dish is very popular during those days and is prepared using kala chana. It is a dry sabji and goes well with poori, roti etc. It is also made as an offering to the God (prasad) during many other auspicious festivals.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup kala chana (black chickpeas)
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 string curry leaves
• 2 red dry chilies
• pinch of asafoetida (hing)
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/4th tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
• 1 tsp garam masala (optional, I like it)
• 1 green chili (optional)
• salt to taste
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1-2 tbsp grated coconut as garnish
• 1 tbsp cilantro chopped

Preparation:

• Soak kala chana in 3 cups of water overnight or for about 6-8 hours. It will double in size and you will get around 2 cups of chana. Pressure cook for 8 whistles or if you have a cooker without the whistle, follow those instructions accordingly. It must be cooked nice and soft.
• In a pan, heat oil, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, once it starts to crackle add curry leaves, dry red chili, asafoetida, quickly saute and add chili pwd, haldi, stir quickly. Work on the med flame. Do not let it burn. Immediately add the kala chana and mix everything nicely. 
• Add a little water from the cooked chana itself along with the salt. Add grated coconut and mix. Cook for another 5 minutes on med flame. Turn off the gas. Sprinkle cilantro on top! Serve hot with pooris.

You may also enjoy tomato poori, lachcha paratha, ragi poori, Kala Chana Sabji(gravy)

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

Health Benefit:
Channa is loaded with proteins. The fact that chickpeas have low glycemic index (GI) makes this legume good for diabetics. It causes a slow and steady release of glucose into the bloodstream and thus, maintains your blood sugar levels. Chickpeas also help in relieving mood changes during menstruation and post-menopausal symptoms in women. The high fibre content in chickpeas helps in promoting a healthy digestive system and intestine by lowering the risk of digestive disorders.

Mixed Sprouts Chilla with Besan (Sprouts Dosa)

Mixed Sprouts Chilla with Besan (sprinkled garlic chutney on top)

These days most of us are diet conscious and are always on a lookout for good healthy recipes. Here is one such recipe of sprouts chilla. It is gaining lots of popularity and is soon becoming a staple food in everyone's house. I must admit it is actually a very tasty and healthy dish (dosa). I fell in love with chillas the first time I tried it. I make it as a replacement for Rotis, works quite well.

Chillas can be made with lots of variation, you can use moong dal, matki, channa or oats etc etc. Add spices of your choice, I like to add green chillies- always first preference :), black peppers, cumin and ginger optional. One can add onions, tomatoes or cilantro...I mean the best part is you can play around with it and it still will come out yummy and tasty.

Get addicted to these chillas and see yourself shedding a couple of dress sizes :) I will try too :)

I had a field day with soaking different legumes overnight and getting sprouts. They look so beautiful :)

One of the foodie members Medha Rajpathak-Dhorje mentioned this recipe with the ingredients. I had to eyeball and make a note of measurements, tried it twice and came up with this recipe:

So cheers to Chillas, let me walk you through the recipe:

Ingredients: 

• 3/4th cup moong dal 
• 2 tbsp matki (moth beans)
• 2 tbsp kala channa (black chickpeas) 

[ so almost 1 cup of sprouts- you can use just 1 type of legume too ]

• 2 green chillies
• 1/2 inch ginger
• 3-4 pods garlic
• 5-6 black pepper
• 1/2 tsp cumin coarsely crushed
• 1/2 onion chopped
• 1/2 cup gram flour (besan)
• 1 tbsp yogurt (dahi)
• handful chopped cilantro
• oil to fry
• salt to taste

Preparation:

• Soak the legumes overnight, in the morning drain out all the water and keep in warm place to sprout. To expedite the process, tie it in a muslin cloth and keep aside hung somewhere :) It is an easy process to do in summer time. In winter it may take 2-3 days to sprout.
• Add legumes, ginger garlic, chillies, yogurt in a blender and make a paste by using just enough water. 
• To this mixture add besan, salt, cumin seeds, onion, black pepper and cilantro. Mix everything and add water to make the batter a little runny than pancakes. Almost like dosa batter.
• Take a cast iron griddle and heat it, add 1/2 tsp oil and spread it evenly with a rubber spatula. 
• Take about half a cup of batter and pour it in the centre of the griddle and with the back of the ladle make circular motions and spread the batter like a dosa. 
• Add more drops of oil evenly around chilla. Let it cook for a couple of minutes, flip it and cook for a few more seconds on the other side.(some may skip this step if it is cooked completely). 
• Serve hot with cilantro chutney or coconut ginger chutney or yellow potato sabji, yogurt etc.

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

Health Benefits: Sprouts are rich in proteins, minerals and vitamins. Legumes are in best form when consumed sprouted. The fact that sprouts have low glycemic index (GI) makes this legume food good for diabetics. It causes a slow and steady release of glucose into the bloodstream and thus, maintains your blood sugar levels. Sprouts also help in relieving mood changes during menstruation and post-menopausal symptoms in women. The high fibre content in them helps in promoting a healthy digestive system and intestine by lowering the risk of digestive disorders.