Chana Masala/Chole

Hello everyone,

Chana masala/Chole is a popular indian dish which is made by cooking chickpeas in onion, tomato gravy along with spices. 

I make chana masala more often as it is rich is protein. I usually make it with basic spices but off late I am using homemade masala powder to prepare this. It goes well with poori, jeera rice, bhatura.

 

Ingredients:

Chickpeas or Garbanzo bean - 1 cup

Water - 2 1/2 cup to boil

Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp

Onion - 1 cup finely chopped

Green chili - 1 slit

Tomatoes - 2 large

Chole masala powder - 1 tbsp

Ghee/oil - 2 tbsp

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Bay leaf - 1

Cinnamon - 1/2 inch

Cilantro -  few chopped

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Soak chickpeas in water overnight. Pressure cook with little salt and 21/2 cup water for about 5-6 whistles on a medium heat.

2. Chop tomatoes and blend it to puree without adding water. Keep it aside.

3. Melt ghee in a large pan, add cumin seeds, bay leaf, cinnamon and then add onion,green chili, ginger garlic paste. Saute until onion turns golden brown.

4. Add chana masala powder and sprinkle some salt for the onion. Cook for couple of minutes. 

5. Now add tomato puree and saute until oil separates from masala.

6. Add boiled chickpeas and adjust the consistency.

7. Cover and cook for about 10mins in low flame.

8. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy chana masala with roti, poori or jeera rice.

Note:

1. Mash few chickpeas if the gravy is watery. Mashing or grinding the chickpeas makes the gravy thick.

2. Adjust the chana masala powder quantity depending on the spice level.

Poha Ladoo

Hello everyone,

Poha ladoo or Aval ladoo is an easy to make traditional sweet which is made by grinding poha/aval with jaggery, some cardamom, dry coconut and rolled into balls. 

This is usually made for gokulastami/krishnar jayanthi as Aval is Krishna's favorite. I do not want to prepare deep fried bakshanams with my one year old kiddo. So, I made aval ladoo for this year krishnar jayanthi. Aval ladoo is a healthy snack for kids. My older one likes it a lot. Here is the recipe. 

Ingredients:

Poha/Aval/Beaten Rice - 1 Cup

Jaggery - 3/4 Cup

Cardamom - 5-6

Desiccated dry coconut - 1/4 Cup

Ghee - 2 tbsp

Cashews - few broken

Method:

1. Dry roast Aval/Poha until it is crunchy. Allow it to cool down. 

2. Grate the jaggery. 

3. Transfer roasted poha and jaggery to a mixer. Add cardamom, desiccated dry coconut and grind it to a fine powder.

4.Heat ghee in a pan, add cashews and fry until it turns golden brown. Turn off the stove. 

5. Add the ghee and cashews to the grinded Aval/Poha powder. Knead well and make gooseberry sized balls with palm. 

6. Store ladoo in a air tight container. 

Notes:

1. Adding coconut is optional. 

2. If using fresh grated coconut, dry roast it without burning before grinding. 

3. Poha is a dry ingredient so use required quantity ghee to combine it. Add extra ghee if it breaks while making balls.