Tried and Tasted - Black/Brown Channa Masala

Iam very excited to start blogging again after a very long break. My 18 months old toddler is keeping me very busy these days that I rarely find time for blogging.But Sometimes I try to squeeze out some 'Me' time to do some browsing even if it costs me an hour of sleep or so.

Though I was not blogging, I have been cooking and baking some new and interesting recipes the pictures of which are piling up in my drafts.

But Today I made this excellent dish from Asha's post using Black channa , I wanted to post it immediately.Till Today I did not know that black/brown channa could taste this good in the channa masala recipe.As it was a long weekend here in Belgium we enjoyed a hearty brunch with this delicious channa masala and Chappati.

I used the same recipe as Asha's except that I grinded some handful of channa and added to the gravy for thickness instead of besan. I also used whole garam masala (1 inch cinnomon, 3 cloves , 1 tsp jeera) for tempering instead of garam masala powder.

Recipe :

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup dry brown Chana,

1/4 Tsp turmeric,

salt,

Paste:

2 onion, chopped and sauteed in a tbsp oil, grind it with 3 garlic, 1 1/2" chopped ginger.

Liquid:1/2 cup Tomato sauce, (canned is fine too).

I blanched 2 large tomatoes , peeled and made a paste.

Spices:1 tbsp Coriander seeds powder, 1 tsp Cumin powder, 1 tsp Garam masla, 1/2 tsp or more chilli pd,1/2 tsp Dry Mango pd or Pomegranate seeds powder, (you can replace both of these tangy powders with 1 tbsp Lemon juice, add it at the end of cooking),1 tsp store bought Chana masala powder if you have it, always optional).
Garnish:Cilantro, 1 tbsp butter, fresh onion cut into rings, few Tomato slices to serve.

Method:
Soak 1 1/2 cups of dry brown Chana in water overnight and drain the water the next day.

Add 3 cups of fresh water to it along with 1/4 tsp turmeric and pressure cook until soft but not fully mashed.

Add 1 tsp salt, keep aside. Save about a cup of water out in a separate bowl.

In a pan, add a tbsp oil, saute 2 onion chopped until slightly golden.

Add this to a blender along with 3 garlic, 1 1/2" fresh chopped ginger until smooth thickish paste with little water but not too much.

Heat 2 tbsp oil, add ground onion paste and fry for 2 mins.

Add Tomato sauce/pate stir fry for 5 mins until thick and leaves the sides of the pan.

Grind a handful of cooked channa for thickening the sauce.

Now, add all the spice powders, salt and cooked Chana and the channa paste with it's water.
Simmer for 10 mins until sauce is thick, adjust the spices and add reserved chana water if needed to thin the sauce. Add 1/2 tbsp of butter, cilantro and mix well.5.

Serve garnished with cilantro, onion rings, tomato pieces .