Channa Masala (Chole masala)

Channa masala is a famous North -Indian dish,which goes well with puri,bhatoora and chapathi. This is made out of chickpeas(Kabuli Channa). You can use the canned chickpeas as well dried channa to prepare this dish. But make sure you drain the water and rinse the chickpeas in the can as it might contain salt solution . Also if using the dried beans it needs to be soaked in water for several hours preferably soaked over night to destroy the bean toxin lectin.After soaking they increase in size.They are a useful source of folate, vitamin E, potassium, iron, manganese, copper, zinc and calcium and rich in fibre.

Ingredients:

Chickpeas - 2 cups (soaked overnight)
Onions - 1 (chopped)
Onions - 1 (blanched and pureed)
Tomato - 1 (chopped)
Tomato - 1 (blanched and pureed)
Tomato sauce - 3 tbsp
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
Red chili powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Channa masala - 2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Salt as required
Tea bag - 1 (optional)
Coriander leaf
Cloves - 2
Cinnamon- 1 stick
Oil - 3 tbsp


Method:

1.Pressure cook chickpeas with salt and teabag for about 4-5 whistles. Adding tea bag is optional.It gives a nice color to the recipe.Preserve the water used for cooking the chickpeas as we can use this water in the recipe instead of plain water.
2.Heat oil in a pan and add cloves,cinnamon and fry the chopped onions for a while and add the pureed onions..
3.Add the chopped tomato ,tomato sauce and pureed tomato,ginger garlic paste to it and saute well till they become a mashy gravy.Adding tomato sauce enhances the flavour and taste of the dish. This is the secret ingredient.
4.Throw in all the masala powders and saute till the oil separates from the gravy. Add the boiled chickpeas and salt to it. Add some water to the gravy and let it cook in simmer for about 15mins.
5.Serve hot with coriander garnish and lemon wedges.
If you want the gravy to be really thick try adding some grinded boiled channa to the gravy.