Black Channa Curry / Aloo Chick-pea Curry

My friend Archana served poori along with this curry. It tasted awesome. Till then I had a notion that nothing will be good with poori other than that aloo curry which exclusively for made poori. We can have this curry along with poori, pulka, or rice.
Serves: 4-6 people.

Ingredients :

• 1 cup of black channa
• ½ of the big onion or ¾ cup of chopped onion
• 3 tomatoes chopped
• 4 cloves of crushed garlic
• 2 Tblsn of fresh shredded / grated coconut
• Salt to taste
• ½ tsp of Sugar (optional)

To Grind:

• ¼ cup coriander seeds (dhania)
• ¼ cup cumin seeds
• ¼ cup dry red chilies (tightly)
• 1 Tblsn raw rice
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• A handful of curry leaves

Dry roast all the above ingredients. Let them cool. Then grind them to a fine powder. For this preparation it takes 2-3 tblsn of powder adjust it according to your taste. And you can store the rest of the powder in an air-tight container.

For Seasoning:

• 3 Tblsn of oil
• 1 tsp of mustard seeds
• 1 tsp of urad dal
• A few curry leaves

Pre-requisite:

Clean black channa with water and soak them in water for 6-8hrs or overnight.

Process:

• Wash soaked black channa once again with water and add them to a pressure cooker. Add enough water and salt and pressure cook it for 3 whistles. Wait till the pressure goes off.

• Heat 3 tblsn of oil in a pan. Season it with mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves & crushed garlic.

• Add chopped onions and fry them till translucent.

• Add cooked channa along with water.

• Add chopped tomatoes and 3 tblsn of ground powder. Don’t add salt at this stage. Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes by stirring up intermittently and add little water if required because the curry should be gravy.

• Add 2 tblsn of shredded coconut and ½ tsp of sugar and cook for 5 minutes.

• Add chopped coriander leaves mix well and turn off the heat.

• Transfer the curry to a serving bowl and garnish it with chopped coriander leaves.

Aloo Chickpea Curry

In the same way you can even make with chickpeas too. But I have added 1 peeled and chopped potota after adding cooked chickpeas into the pan. And I have added 3 Tblsn of tomato puree along with the tomatoes.