Channa Masala (for Batura)

Chole and Batura has a special place in my heart, this was the first proper Indian meal I ate after coming here to the US. In the US today there is no shortage of Indian food, be it North or South Indian even specialized food like Chettinad, Karaikudi cuisine etc., but when I first got here there was an occasional Indian restaurant in our nearest 50 mile radius and most Americans had never heard of curry. It was exotic food from the land of yogis :)

So when I got here not knowing how to cook, about the 3rd or 4th day when DH suggested we go for out for Chinese and I was excited. With dreams of the Chinese food I knew I was disappointed obviously, this was Chinese food in America not the Indo Chinese back home. No American chop suey in a Chinese restaurant in America and I might have shed a tear or two. It was all very confusing and not very tasty :) Then the next restaurant we tried was Indian obviously. We went into this Indian Restaurant and the first thing that jumped out at me was Channa Batura and I remember it was the best ever. I have been trying to perfect and recreate the taste ever since. On our subsequent visits to this restaurant the Channa and Batura never tasted as good! But of course right?



So here is an easy recipe for a creamy gravy that is perfect for mopping with the batura and it is pretty easy to make. I do not make a paste of the raw onions instead I boil them along with the garlic, ginger and green chilies and then make a paste of it. This makes it easy to cook and does not take as long as the raw onions paste. I also used amla powder instead of cooking the chickpeas with tea bags. I had only loose tea and no tea bags and that was a good thing because the amla powder gave the mild sourness to the gravy.

Recipe in pictures,

Cook the chick peas in an Instant Pot. Add the cut the onions, garlic, ginger and chilies in a sauce with a bit of water.
Once the boiled onions are cooled blend it to a smooth paste.
In a wide mouthed pan, heat oil, season with cumin seeds. Add in the blended onion paste and saute for 6-8 minutes or till you see the oil separating. Add in the spice powders.
Add in the tomato puree, mix and cook for about 8-10.
Add the cooked chickpeas and half way through the cooking process add the coriander leaves and turn of the heat.

Serve with baturas for best taste.

Channa Masala
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Soaking Time: Overnight
Ingredients

1. 2 cups of dried chickpeas
2. 1 1/2 cups of chopped red onions
3. 4 garlic cloves peeled and chopped
4. 1 inch piece of ginger chopped
5. 4-5 red chilies chopped (I used the fresh ones not dried)
6. 1 cup tomato puree
7. 1/2 tbsp of amla powder
8. 1/2 tbsp coriander powder
9. 1-2 tsp of red chili powder if required
10. 2 tsp of turmeric powder
11. salt to taste
12. seasonings: cumin seeds
13. handful of fresh coriander leaves
14. 1/2 tbsp oil

Method

1. Soak the chickpeas overnight in plenty of water. Discard the soaking water and wash the chickpeas. Now cook the chickpeas with twice the amount of water and turmeric powder in the Instant Pot for 25 minutes. If it is not soaked cook for 45 minutes.
2. In a sauce pan add the onions, chilies, garlic and ginger and about 1/4 cup of water and cook for about 6-8 minutes. Turn off the heat. When cooled blend to a smooth paste.
3. In a wide mouthed pan heat oil, add cumin seeds followed by the blended onion paste.
4. Sauté the paste till the oil starts to seep out for about 8-10 minutes or so.
5. Add the amla powder, coriander, chili powder and give it a mix. Now add the tomato puree and let it cook for another 8-10 minutes or so till the oil separates.
6. Add in the cooked chickpeas with salt with either all of the water or how much you want and continue to cook for another 8-10 minutes. Half way through the cooking add the coriander leaves. Turn off the heat.

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