Recipe - Black Chana (Chickpea) Curry

There are multiple ways of making chana. Each brings out a different taste. This is a very simple and basic way of making it.

Ingredients (Servces ~ 3)

1. Black chana (Chickpea) - 150 gms
2. Onions - 2 big
3. Tomato - 1 medium
4. Green chilli - 2
5. Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
6. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
7. Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
8. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
9. Garam masala - 1 1/2 tsp
10. Chole masala - 1 tsp
11. Salt - as per taste
12. oil - 4 tsp

Method - 

1. Soak the black chana in water for about 12 hours.
2. Put the chana in a pressure cooker cook them. Let the whistle on it sound about 5-6 times and then let it cook in the pressure till it cools down.
3. Finely chop onions, tomatoes and green chillies.

4. Heat oil in a pan.
5. Put mustard seeds in till they split.
6. When they start spluttering, put the cumin seeds in and then the green chillies.
7. After about 15-20 seconds, put the onions in and let them cook till they are golden brown.

8. Put the cooked black chana in it and mix well.

9. Put the tomatoes in and cover the pan to cook it further for about 3 minutes.
10. Put the red chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala, Chole masala and salt. Mix it well.
11. Put some water in to make a slight gravy. Cover the pan and put the burner on sim. Let it cook till the chana is soft enough.
12. If more tangy taste is needed, some amchur(dry mango) powder can also be put.
13. Serve with chapati/roti

Recipe - Chicken curry homestyle

Ingredients -

1. Chicken - 500 gms
2. Curd - 100 gms
3. Red chilli powder - 2 tsp (or as per taste)
4. Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
5. Cumin powder - 1 tsp
6. Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
7. Salt - 1.5 tsp (or as per salt)
8. Onion - 2 medium
9. Green chilli - 2 medium
10. Chana daal (split chikpea) - 2 tsp
11. Khaskhas (poppy seeds) - 1 tsp
12. Dry coconut - 4 1 inch pieces (optional)
13. Green coriander - 1/2 cup
14. Chicken masala - 2 tsp (or as per taste)
15. Oil - 1 or 2 Tbsp

Method -

1. Wash the chicken pieces well.
2. Mix the curd, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, Cumin powder, Ginger garlic paste and Salt.
3. Marinate the chicken in this mix and keep it in the refridgerator for an hour.

4. Dry roast green chilli, khaskhas, chana daal, (dry coconut) and onions separately. Cut and clean the coriander.

5. Grind the roasted green chilli, khaskhas and chana daal together to make a dry mix.
6. Make a rough paste of the onion and coriander in the grinder.

7. Heat oil in a pan. Put the dry mix in the oil. Let it cook for 2 min on low flame.
8. Put the onion/coriander paste in the pan and let it cook for about 5 min.

9. Put the chicken in the pan and mix well. Let it cook for 2-3 min. Mix well again.

10. Put chicken masala in it and also pour a cup of water.
11. Cover the pan and let it cook till the chicken is tender and cooked.
12. Serve with chapati and raita

Recipe - Cauliflower & Potato Curry

After last night's semi successful experiment with the fish, I decided to go for ingredients that I know a little better. Cauliflower and potatoes. The maid has already made chapatis (I get bored of making them), so now it was only a matter of making the sabzi and eat!

There are two ways of making this sabzi. Dry and curried. I decided to make the curried one. Even with this I had two options, I decided the short cut method. It's easy and doesn't need a mixer/grinder. This is the method I used when I was in UK and I didn't have the luxury of some of the things that are easily accessible here.

Ingredients -

1. Cauliflower - approx 500 gms
2. Potato - 1 medium
3. Tomatoes - 2 medium
4. Onions - 1 big
5. Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp
6. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
7. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
8. Red chilli powder - as per taste
9. Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
10. Garam masala - as per taste (around 1 tsp should be enough)
11. and of course, Salt

Method -

1. Cut and wash the cauliflower into small pieces (cutting is not exactly what it should be called. it's plucking and cutting happening together). Wash the potato (I don't like peeling them) and cut into small pieces as well. Then thinly chop the onion and tomatoes. I love this part :)

2. Heat oil in a pan and put the mustard seeds in till they start splitting. Then put the cumin seeds and quickly put the onion in. Mix it and let it cook till golden brown (if it's red onion, it's a little tricky to tell if it's golden brown or not). Put the ginger-garlic paste in mix it.

3. Put the cauliflower and potatoes in. Mix well and then then put the turmeric and chilli powder in. Mix well and put the salt in. At this point (after it's cooked of course) it can still be served without any problem. tastes great! but has no curry.

4. Put the Garam masala and the tomatoes in. Mix well and pour a cup of water. More can be used later. Cover the pan and and let it cook for 10 min. Keep making sure that there's enough water. When both the main ingredients are cooked, it's done!

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33 minutes and a small fight later...

Don't know what's wrong with me since the last couple of months. My mind's not in the right place. I very stupidly put "Goda masala" instead of "Garam masala". It still tasted good, but not the taste that I wanted. I gotto get out of this phase...