Monday, April 9, 2012

Kadala Curry- Kerala Style ( Chick peas/ Chana in coconut milk and with sliced coconut

Puttu and Kadala Curry is one of the favorite and common traditional breakfast combination of a malayalee (Keralite). Kadala Curry is also a good combination with chappathi, appam, idiyappam. When I make it I make little extra so that it will go with one night dinner ( With Chappathi ) and next day's breakfast ( With Puttu). There is a proverb in Malayalam "ഒരു വെടിക് രണ്ടു പക്ഷി" - " Killing two birds with one bullet". Similarly with one dish I serve both breakfast and dinner.
Well, In this recipe you can see that I used two cups of Kadala and it serves 8-10 persons. What happened is that I made little more extra so that I can give it to my neighbor and one of my husband's colleague. Me and my neighbor "S.." have a habit of exchanging food. It all started when I became pregnant with my second kid. She used to feel sympathetic to me, seeing me struggling with my 2 year old naughty and restless son and doing cooking and other household chores. And I used to feel guilty to take it from her. She is a working lady works 5 days and cook on week-ends. And I being a house wife sitting at home. So I used to return her food containers with some dishes  when ever I can. And this episode still continues.

Well, "S.." and her husband gave me a "good" feed back about this dish. And told me that I should definitely put this in my blog. And she asked me for the recipe with exact measurement. Now a days since I started a blog I usually use measuring spoons and measuring cups so that I can post exact measurements. Earlier it was just pouring it from my 'spice containers' tuck.... tuck... tuck.... Sometimes spices/ masala will be little bit more or little bit less. Here, goes exact measurement. I am little bit confused about 'Perumjeerakam powder' I added. Whether it was 1/2 tsp or 1 tsp. Rest measurements are fine.





Serves - 8-10
Ingredients:
1) Chana / Kadala / Chick peas - 2 cup
2) Sliced Big Onion - 1-1 1/2
3) Chopped Garlic- 1 pod
4) Chopped Ginger - 1 piece
5) Green Chilly -3
6) Sliced Coconut - 1/2 cup
7) Turmeric Powder- 1/2 tsp
8) Chilly Powder - 1 tsp
9) Coriander Powder - 2 tbsp
10) Gram Masala - 1- 1 1/4 tsp
11) Perumjeerakam powder (Ground fennel seeds) - 1/2- 3/4 tsp
12) Coconut Milk - 1 tin
13) Mustard seeds
14) Oil
15) Curry leaves
16) Salt


Method:
  • Soak the chana in water overnight or 6-8 hrs.
  • Heat oil in pressure cooker. When the oil is hot, splutter the mustard seeds.
  • Add Sliced onion, ginger, garlic, green chilly and curry leaves. Saute occasionally.
  • When the onion turns brown, add chilly powder, coriander powder, perumjeerakam,  Gram masala, turmeric powder. Saute continuously. When the roasted masala aroma comes add chick peas/ Chana/ Kadala, Salt and sliced coconut. Pour water enough to cover the chana. Stir.
  • Close the pressure cooker and when the steam comes out put on the weight. Remove from the flame after 3-4 whistle. Wait for the pressure to get over. Or put the pressure cooker under running cold water. When the pressure is over, open the pressure cooker.
  • Add coconut milk to it. Stir. Bring the dish to boil and turn off the flame.




10 comments:

  1. This is an excellent recipe, my husband was all ga-ga about this. It came out well and went good with puttu.. Now a days, he is forcing me to make puttu so that he can have this curry. Rosy, keep posting good recipes like this.

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  2. Sure !!! Really happy to hear that it worked for you.

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  3. There's Kerala Style restaurant in Cleveland, Ohio, where I had chickpea curry that was so delicious. I can find anything similar in home state of New Jersey, every restaurant has same thick tomato-base Channa Marsala Still looking in NJ but this recipe just be close to my Cleveland version, well the photo looks like. Can't wait to try it.

    Thanks for sharing

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the compliment. Hope you will try it and let me know.

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  4. When you refer to garlic - what is a pod? Is that same as clove or do you mean entire garlic head.

    Also with coconut milk, what is a tin? is that the same 1 cup?

    What is the measurement for mustard seeds?

    Thanks

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    Replies
    1. Pod means the entire garlic and clove is one piece of garlic from the bunch.
      Here, by 1 tin coconut milk , i meant store brought coconut milk. Here in USA , i get it in tins. It is approximately 1- 1 1/2 cups. You can add the coconut milk according to your taste. Some people like it to be thick and some light.

      Measurement for mustard seeds - 1/4-1/2 tsp

      If you have any more doubts write to me.

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  5. aw.. tin-can, a can of coconut milk. Sorry wasn't thinking. That reminds minds of "soda-pop" American growing up in the midwest calls it "pop" and east-coasters calls it "soda".

    I'm teaching myself how to cook Indian food via internet, and I keep reading that homemade Garam Masala is better than store bought. So I found this mixture

    Cardamom - 40 nos( green)
    Cloves - 35 nos
    Cinnamon Stick - 2 or 3
    Star anise - 1
    Nutmeg - 1/2 of a whole one ,or you can use one full, if you like.

    http://www.vazhayila.com/2011/08/homemade-garam-masala-kerala-style.html

    Thanks I will let you know how it turns out, I'm making it now.

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  6. yeah, home-made gram masala is better. I use the one made by my mom. Freshly grind masala tastes even better and have lots of flavor. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

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  7. I lived in Kerala for a year and have really missed the food since I've been home. I found your recipe and made it today...it was absolutely delicious. I used too much water in the pressure cooker when cooking the chickpeas...they came out watery and bland. I didn't want to keep cooking and overcook the peas so I strained the liquid out, and cooked the liquid until it was substantially reduced, and then added it back to the peas. Perfect! My daughter (another fan of Kerala food)says I should make it that way every time..it was delicious. I'm going to check out some of your other recipes. Thanks!

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  8. Thanks Kathie, for leaving a comment. I hope you daughter enjoys the other recipes too.

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Readers, waiting to hear from you ! Your questions, comments, suggestions are always welcome....