Black chickpeas sundal

I kind of had a short break from blogging.. Its been a long time since i took from everything in my life... this was a short and sweet break... did nothing but watching TV and cooking..hehehe.. that was fun... Good news from weight machine...I have lost 5 pounds so far with my strict diet and exercises..If u have read my post about Indian food calories... u will know what i am talking about...

Black chick pea sundal is one of my favorite evening snack/ meal before i head to gym. Black chick peas has 8.8gms of protein, 7.6 gms of fibre and zero saturated fat.. Even though it is high in carbs, provides great energy.. Little carbs are needed for metabolism to run properly...

Ingredients:

1 cup Kala channa

1 onion

1 tsp each mustard seeds, channa dal, urad dal

3 green chillies

3 redcillies

salt to taste

1 tsp oil

Preparation:

Soak kala channa overnight. Add excess water and salt and cook in the cooker for 1 whistle. Strain the water and reserve channa. Heat oil in pan. Do the seasoning with mustard , channa and urad dal. Add finely chopped onion, green chillies and red chillies. Saute' till the onions become translucent. Add channa and fry for few minutes. Adjust salt. Remove from heat.. Serve hot!!!

Black chickpeas and spinach curry

My hubby bought two big packets of spinach from Sam's club... Even if i use it everyday for cooking, it will take two weeks to finish it... Men have no clue when it comes to grocery shopping :(... I will always go with him.. if not this is what happens.. No point in cribbing now.. I have to use them asap.. This is my trial recipe, came out very well.. Once in a while we have to try something new..like strange combos..u will be surprised with the result...




Ingredients:

1 cup black chick peas
2 cups spinach
1 onion
2 tomatoes
1 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp Chole masala (store bought)
1 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
oil

Preparation:

Soak Kala channa over nite. Cook in rice cooker for 1 whistle. Remove, strain the water and reserve. Heat oil in a pan, do the usual seasoning. Add chopped onion, fry till translucent. Add g & g paste. Saute till raw smell vanishes. Add chopped tomatoes and spinach. Cook till tomatoes becomes mushy, by that time spinach would be cooked. Add all the masala powder and 2 cups of Kala channa cooked water. Let it boil. Adjust salt. Once the gravy become thick, add cooked channa. Cover and cook for 5 mts. Garnish with coriander.. Serve hot with chappathi..

This is on its way to Side dish for Chappathi event, hosted by Viki of Viki's Kitchen.

Black chick peas curry/ Senagalu Pulusu and Kattu Rasam

Black chick peas/ Kala Channa adds nutrition like fiber and proteins to our diet. I usually make puli kozhumbu/ Kara kozhumbu with kala channa. This is one of MIL's recipe, Senagalu pulusu thats what they call it... The gravy looked colorful and tasted heavenly. She also taught me how to use the boiled channa water to make rasam known as Kattu rasam. The taste of rasam was different but very tasty. It is very nutritious meal from start to finish....

Senagalu pulusu/ Kala Channa curry





Ingredients:

1 big onion
2 tomatoes
1 cup kala channa
4 pods of garlic
5 tbsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
Lemon sized tamarind (squeeze and take extract)
salt to taste

Paste:

8- 10 redchillies (adjust to taste)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp raw rice
3 tbsp grated coconut

Preparation:

Soak channa overnight. In a pressure cooker, add excess amount of water to cook channa. Cover and cook for 1 whistle. Remove from heat and let it cool down. Use strainer to separate water from the channa. Keep them separately.

Grind the mentioned ingredients to a fine paste.

In a pan, add chopped onions, tomatoes, garlic, ground paste, coriander powder, turmeric powder and half of the channa water. Cover and cook for 10 mts or until the raw smell of masala vanishes. Add boiled chaana to the gravy. Let it cook for 5 mts. Adjust salt. Finally add tamarind water according to ur taste. Let it boil for another 1o mts. Remove from heat. Season it with oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves.


Senagalu pulusu is ready....





Kattu rasam:




Use Remaining channa water to make rasam( don't add water)... Check out Rasam recipe!!!!