Ingredients:
White Chana/Chickpeas - 1 cup [Soaked overnight and cooked, Don't throw the water!!!]
Jeera/Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
Asafoetida (Hing powder)- 1 tsp
Onion - 1 1/5 Medium size
Tomato - 2 Medium size
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Green Chilli - 2 finely chopped
Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
Garam Masala Powder - 1 tsp
Chana Masala powder - 4 tsp
Lemon Juice - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Corriander leaves - few
Salt - as much as needed
Preparation:
1. Finely chop one onion and one tomato.
2. Grind one tomato and half onion into a fine paste. You could also use tomato puree also instead of grinding the tomatoes.
3. Add oil in a pan, add jeera, let it splutter, add green chilli, and after 2 minutes, add the chopped onion. Add ginger garlic paste and asafoetida.
PS: All the cooking should be done only in medium flame and never high flame.
4. When the onion is fried golden brown, add the chopped tomato and salt. Let the tomato cook nicely and it should be like a paste.
5. Now add the tomato-onion paste and stir nicely. Add turmeric powder and red chilli powder. Add little water(which you used for boiling the chickpeas) and let it cook for few minutes.
6. Then add the boiled chickpeas to the pan and add the water which was used for boiling the chickpeas. Let it cook for 5 minutes.
7. Add chana masala and garam masala and mix and cook for another 3 minutes. You can add water if you want.
8. Add lemon juice and garnish with corriander leaves.
This is a delicious wonderful dish, the chana masala becomes thick only with the tomato onion paste so never skip that step and the chana masala gives a little tangy taste which makes this dish very tasty.
You can eat it with poori, bhatoora or nan. Or you can have chana and rice! It works out either ways! And after eating you would say Cha Cha Cha !!! :-)
