Kabuli channa gravy

For as far back as I can remember the channa (chick peas) gravy has been a constant in our dinner menus. For my siblings and me growing up, the poori and potato masaal combination was incomplete without the channa gravy ! It took me awhile into adulthood to realise that everyone else mostly ate the poori with just the masaal  :p

Deep frying is not my forte simply because a pan full of boiling hot oil frightens me. I think it’s probably because my mom always wanted me to be extra cautious in the kitchen. So yes while I never really made pooris for my kids (they got plenty at the grandparents’) I did do versions of the channa gravy. My experiments went from watery or bland to being overpoweringly strong. I always craved for the flavoursome channa gravy which I grew up eating as a kid.

So one day I remembered to ask my mother and she just rattled off the recipe in the passing.The one thing that I did hold onto was the way in which the gravy was made thicker. There was no flour or nut paste to thicken the gravy.Instead what was used was a small amount of the cooked channa itself. I found that to be fascinating,not to mention much healthier.

So with no precise measurements in mind,we went on to create our very own channa gravy,using mom’s recipe as a base.When the children were little they loved to eat it with pau bread, pickled onions and lemon wedges on the side. All it needs is to make the gravy a little thicker by simmering it for a few minutes longer. Now that they are health conscious teenagers, the pau bread has been replaced by murungaikeerai chappathi (moringa greens flat bread) or plain roti or even some jeera rice made with organic seeraga samba rice grains.

This recipe suits most palates because all the ingredients are used minimally and at no point do they overpower in terms of individual flavour. The aroma of the fennel and pepper blend harmoniously with the taste of the spice powders and add to the floury texture of the channa. a hint of garlic is used to accentuate the sourness of the country tomatoes and periya vengayam (spanish onions).I have added some garam masala or a channa masala in the recipe. I do keep Everest channa masala on hand when I have run out of our home made garam masala blend. So please use whatever suits your sense of taste.

After so many years of blogging , it’s only now that I’m making a habit of taking pictures of the food we cook ,on a regular basis.Otherwise it was always for an article or a post.So when friends ask me to post some of our recipes,it tends to get delayed only because I didn’t get the chance to take pictures.

I love the way these pictures turned out. Lunch was hot palak puris (yes first attempt) with this channa gravy.It was a cloudy day and I had set aside a portion of the gravy to take pictures. In keeping with the grey skies out came the beaten brass bowls and tumblers along with the hand crafted coconut shell ladles. We do love eating out of these especially since they are all family hand me downs.

I realised much later that what was missing were the green coriander leaves which had found their way to our stomachs ! Oh well ! nobody’s perfect 😉

Do try this recipe and let me know your thoughts.