Kala Chana Sundal & Kala Chana-Green Beans Patoli

After missing blogging marathon for 2 months, I'm back with the group for BM# 22. My theme for the first week is "Cooking with Chana". For the first day I have 2 dishes made with Kala Chana.

As I mentioned in my previous post, we are in the middle of getting granite counter tops in our kitchen. As our luck has it, hurricane Sandy created havoc and what was supposed to be a 4-5 days project, now seems to take forever. The Granite guys do not have power yet and we have no counter top or sink in the kitchen. 

My mom's been a great savior and she's been cooking up yummy dishes using only few dirty dishes to clean. She made both of today's dishes in one saute pan and I clicked the pictures in the same ramekin.

Kala Chana Sundal:

Ingredients:

Kala Chana, soaked and boiled - 1 cup

Red Onion - 1 small, finely chopped

Carrot - 1 small, grated

Green chili - 1, slit

Dry Red Chili - 2

Coconut, grated - 2tbsp

Lemon/ Lime juice - 1tbsp

Salt - to taste

Mustard seeds - 1tsp

Cumin seeds - 1tsp

Cilantro - 2tbsp, finely chopped

Method:

• Heat 2tsp oil in a saute pan, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and dry red chili. Once the seeds start to splutter, add the onions, green chilies, grated carrot and cook for 3-4 minutes.
• Next add the cooked kala chana, grated coconut and salt. Mix the lemon juice and garnish with cilantro.

Green Bean Patoli with Kala Chana:

Ingredients:

Kala Chana, soaked and boiled - 1 cup

Green Beans - 3 cups, finely chopped

Ginger - 1tbsp, finely grated

Green chilies - 3, chopped

Coconut - 2tbsp (fresh or frozen)

Cumin seeds - 2tsp

Salt - to taste

For Tempering:

Urad dal - 1tsp

Mustard seeds - 1tsp

Cumin seeds - 1tsp

Dry Red chili - 2

Curry leaves - 6-8

Method:

• Grind the soaked chana along with cumin seeds, ginger, green chilies, coconut into a coarse mixture. My mom pounded everything using a mortar and pestle.
• Microwave or boil the green beans until tender. Keep aside until ready to use.
• Heat 2tbsp oil in a saute pan, add tempering ingredients and once the seeds start to splutter, add the ground chana mixture and cook until slightly dried out and cooked through.
• Next add the boiled green beans and salt; cover and cook until all the flavors mingle, about 5-8 minutes.
• Serve with rice and sambar.

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked up today for BM#22.