Channa Masala

Diwali is coming in one month!  Faithful readers will recall that last year, there were two Diwali posts, and they were among the first to be published on this blog.  I am a celebratist, and in preparation for this year's festivities, I've decided to publish Indian recipes in the month leading up to the holiday on November 5.  It is my solemn vow to post at least one Indian recipe a week to help you plan your festivities.

Channa Masala* is one of my favorite foods.  It is so warm and satisfying, and the chick peas have a gentle nuttiness that is the perfect complement to the tangy sauce.  It doesn't have to be super spicy, but when made well, channa masala has a lot of flavor.  This recipe is a perfect balance of tangy, spicy, salty creamy goodness.  This recipe might be the best channa masala I have ever made in my life--so get cooking!

Channa Masala

Takes 2 hours (plus overnight soaking)

Makes 6 (large) servings

2 cups dried chick peas, soaked overnight

2 small onions, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 inch piece of ginger, skinned and minced (an equal amount to the garlic)

1 green chile, halved lengthwise

1 stick cinnamon

1 bay leaf

pepper corns (about 7)

1/2 tsp. Garam masala

2 Tbsp. tomato paste (or 1 large tomato, chopped)

1 Tbsp. salt

cilantro

lime

Drain the pre-soaked chick peas, rinse, and set aside.

In a large, heavy pot, saute the garlic and ginger on medium-high heat for about 2 minutes, or until they become translucent and just start to brown.  Add the onions and one half of the green chile and saute some more so that the onions are translucent and are just starting to brown.  Add the bay leaf, cinnamon stick, pepper corns and garam masala and saute until really fragrant.  Add tomato paste, and saute until the oil becomes red (if you use fresh tomatoes it will take longer).  Add the chick peas, stir together for a few minutes, and then add 6 cups water.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 1 hour and 30 minutes.

When the chick peas are soft, add the second half of the green chile.  Check for salt and spice.  Add more garam masala if you like.  When ready to serve, top with chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lime juice.

Channa masala only gets better with time.  So make it earlier in the day and let it sit at room temperature, heating it up again just before eating.  Or even make it the day before and let it sit in the refrigerator over night.

This is great with aloo parathas, Cracked-wheat chapatis, or just rice.  Enjoy!

 Sorry for the bad pictures!  But I just had to post!

*  Channa Masala is also called chole.  It's also spelled chana masala, but I think that spelling is a bad transliteration.  But I'm no expert!

Thakkali saddam means tomato rice

I wanted to share my mom's recipe for tomato rice, thakkali saddam.  This was a favorite recipe for special occasions when we were growing up.  The rice is deliciously flavored with tomato, cinnamon and other spices, so all you need to eat it with is some yoghurt, or some really simple greens or a salad.

I think this would be great with a long grain brown rice.  I haven't tried that, but I assume it would just need a little bit more water.

I'm leaving her directions as is, but I'll write an ingredient list.

Thakkali Saddam

Makes 6 Servings

Takes 2 hours

2 cups Basmati or Jasmine Rice

3 large onions

5 or 6 large ripe tomatoes

2 green chilies

1 inch piece of ginger

5 or 6 garlic pods

canola oil

2 sticks cinnamon

2 bay leaves

10 cloves

2 tsp. fennel seeds

1 tsp. lime juice

big handful of mint

1) Soak 2 cups Basmati rice for 30 minutes or so.   

2) Cut 3 large onion (thinly sliced or chopped)

3) Chop 5 to 6 large ripe tomatoes (if roma tomatoes may be 12)

4) Chop 2 green chilies, grate ginger and grate 5 or 6 garlic pods.  5) In 6qt or 8 qt vessel, add 5 or 6 tsp of veg/canola oil

6) Add 1 or 2 stick of cinnamon, 1 or 2 bay leaves (if available), 8 or 10 cloves, and 2 tsp fennel seeds.  Fry for a minute or so.

7) Add chopped onions and fry well.

8) Add chopped tomatoes and fry well till it becomes smooth paste (use masher to mash it well). If needed, add more oil.

9) Add ginger and garlic. Fry

10) Add salt and chilly powder if needed.

11) Drain water from rice and add rice to the tomato gravy. Fry for 1 or 2 minutes. Add 2 cups of water (if tomato sauce is liquidy, add less water)

12) Lower heat and cover the pot and put the timer for 20 minutes.

13) Let it cool for an hour. With fork fluff the rice, add salt if needed and add 1 tsp of lime juice if not tart. Mix and move it to a serving bowl.

14) Garnish with mint leaves if available. If not it is okay. Sometime the bottom may be burnt if there is not much oil. Discard that rice from the bottom layer. 

She's crazy with that last instruction.  The Crispy bits on the bottom are the best part!

One last Happy Diwali to you all!  Sad as I was to not have old friends with me this year on Diwali, our new friends here in Halifax added their own enthusiasms and we had a really nice evening.

Thanks to Jaymie and Ken for some new pictures!

Happy Diwali! (with recipes)

For the past 7 or 8 years, Diwali has meant inviting friends over and making very large meals.  I love everyone coming together, and George, Catherine and I would cram our apartment in New York with all the people we love and eat a lot!  I remember our first Diwali in Manhattan, driving around the East Village grocery shopping and listening to the Smiths.  Sometimes Deepa would come down from Boston, and I remember one year we tried to make paneer!

Mostly I remember everyone crammed into that tiny apartment on 2nd street eating.  I appreciated so much, that regardless of whether it was their first or twenty-first Diwali, everyone really participated in making it a festive celebration, especially Catherine and George.

In Berkeley, we've invited everyone over for a special meal, but it hasn't been quite the same.  One year, there was a conference and I came home as the party was already started.  I remember Deepa making a special Persian Love Cake for a certain someone during the POGD.  Last year we celebrated Diwal-O-ween with a little weiner dog.

I was a chili pepper. 

This year, I was looking forward to Paddy and I celebrating our first Diwali together in the same place, even though this place does not have the friends I have come to depend on.

There was a lot of cooking, and I will spread the recipes over a couple of posts (especially since I am waiting for more pictures of our little party last night).  There was a lot of cooking, and to be perfectly honest, some things did not come out very well.

(A dramatic re-enactment of the meal)

I made

Manjula's parathas
Kala channa masala
Aloo muttar gobi
Keera
Carrot Salad
Pickled Onions
Takkali Sadam (Tomato Rice)
Kesari








I won't say a lot about the recipes I took from other bloggers.  Manjula's parathas were delicious as always.  I was having a bit of a hard time getting the heat right, as many of the parathas did not puff as well as they should have.  I made my own ghee, and it came out so well!  And I definitely used a lot of ghee to keep the parathas soft after they came off the tawa.  They were a big hit.  My one recommendation for Manjula's parathas, is that you are better making four bigger parathas than the 5 she suggests her recipe makes.

For the kesari, I did not use kesari powder, but added two pinches of saffron when I added the cardamom.

Delicious!

I have to say, the recipes from Mad Tea Party were not that great.  I probably screwed up the proportions, and I definitely did not add enough salt at the final tasting.  The chole was too spicy, not hot, but just too much of the spices.  The aloo gobi tasted ok, but I should have chopped the potatoes smaller, because they did not cook as quickly as the cauliflower.  Maybe added the potatoes first and the then the cauliflower?  Anyway, mushy cauliflower, hard potatoes.  Yuck.

The Keera went really well.  As did the thakkali sadam, my mom's recipe.  I'll post the Keera recipe and the carrot salad recipe today, and post the thakkali sadam recipe tomorrow.  Hopefully I will have other pictures than these pictures of the leftovers!

Keera (spinach)
takes 20 minutes (mostly for washing spinach)
makes 4 servings


1 pound spinach, very well washed
1 tsp. urad dal (skinned and split) 
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1/4 tsp. crushed chili pepper flakes, or 1 dried red chili
salt


Ok, this happens quickly, so gather all your ingredients.  Heat oil on medium high heat in a large saute pan.  When it is very hot, add the urad dal, and toast until light brown.  Add the cumin seeds, when they become brown and very fragrant add the red chili pepper.  Wait 2 seconds, and add the spinach.  It might not all fit into the pan at first.  Add salt and keep stirring, it will reduce very quickly.  Cook until the spinach is done, to your taste.  I like it barely cooked (about 1 minute once it's all in the pan) so it is still very bright green.  Paddy likes the spinach very well done, about 3 minutes.


You can also use frozen spinach.  Let it thaw (for about 20 minutes).  Cook a bit longer than you would fresh spinach.

Carrot Salad
takes 20 minutes
makes 4 servings

3 carrots
1 green chili, split lengthwise
1 tsp. mustard seeds
salt
1 lime
handful cilantro

Wash and peel the carrots.  Grate.  Add green chili and salt to taste, about 1/2 tsp.  Squeeze the juice of the lime onto the carrots.  In a small saute pan heat oil on medium high heat to very hot.  Have the lid ready.  Add the mustard seeds.  When they begin to pop, put the lid on and turn off the heat!  When the spluttering has subsided, spoon the mustard seeds out of the pan onto the carrots.  Mix it all together, and let sit for about 10 minutes.  Top with cilantro.

Carrot salad is really good with yoghurt rice and also rasam and rice.  

To all of my Berkeley and New York friends, I miss you so much!  Diwali is not the same in Canada.  Great people, good food, but not the same.

More recipes coming!