Black Chickpea Curry (Kala Chana Dal)

 A simple, nutritious dish.

Here is a plate of: 

Brown Basmati, 

with Kala Chana Dal, and 

topped with some sun-dried Fenugreek leaves (Kasoori Methi), 

and Okra.

Simple, nutritious and delicious.

This is definitely one of these meals that you can vary endlessly. I provide the recipe hereby, with some suggestions of what you might change:

Ingredients

• 1/2 Tsp cumin seeds, or 1 TSP Panch Puran
• 1 cup onions, finely cut-up
• 1-2 green chili, chopped or slit
• 1 cup dry (Kala Chana), rinsed, and soaked 6-8 hours or overnight
• 3/4 to 1 cup tomatoes, chopped or pureed - 2 medium 200 grams
• 1-1/2 Tsp ginger/garlic paste, or 3 garlic cloves + 1/2" ginger, ground
• optional: cut up stems (1/4") of kale or collard greens, cooked with the kala chana.
• optional: one sliced carrot (to sweeten the tomato flavor)
• 2 cups of water
• 1/2 - 3/4 Tsp Garam Masala
• 1/2 Tsp Red Chili Powder
• 1/4 Tsp Turmeric Powder
• 1-1/2 Tsp Coriander Powder
• 1/2-1 Tsp salt (depending on your religion)

Preparation

• Briefly roast the spices (cumin or panch puran), in a stainless steel skillet.
• Add the onion and green chili, and chopped kale stems if using, and a 1/2 cup of water with Yondu. 
• Sautée until soft.
• Add the ginger and garlic, sautée for one minute
• Pour 1 cup of tomato puree or chopped tomatoes
• Sautée and stir for a minute
• Add the Garam Masala and other spices. Sauté 2-3 minutes
• Add the soaked Kala Chana and 2 cups of water
• Pressure cook 35 mins (or 40 mins if beans are older).

Optionally after it is done you can add some methi leaves, and some sliced ginger.

The option of the kale or collard greens stems is superb, for this dish cooks a bit longer, and you use the pressure cooker, so those stems will be completely cooked, but the deepen the flavor of this dish and add a lot of nutrition.

For the tomatoes I used one 15 Oz package of crushed tomatoes and a small can (6 Oz) of tomato puree.

Optionally, you can precook the kala chana until they are just soft, even before putting them in the IP.