Ingredients

• Black Chana ( black chickpeas) 250 g
• Salt to taste
• Turmeric – 1/2 tsp
  Ground Masala:
• Grated coconut – 1 cup
• 1/4 cup whole coriander,
• 5 whole red chili,
• 1 clove ,
• 1 green cardamom,
• one small piece cinnamon,
• 1/2 tsp pepper corn ,
• 1/2 tsp jeera , pinch fennel seeds ,
• 3 pearl onion
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 inch ginger
• few leaves of curry leaves,

For the curry

• Onion – 1 medium
• Tomato – 1 large
• Turmeric – 1/2 tsp
• ginger – small piece chopped finely
• Green Chilli -2

Tempering

• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp coconut chopped
• 6 pearl onion( chopped)
• 2 garlic chopped,
• few curry leaves,
• few broken cashews (optional) , 2 dry chilies

Soak the black chana in water for 6-8 hours. Pressure cook with salt and turmeric for about 4-6 whistles or until the chana is soft

To make the Masala

Dry roast all the masala ingredients till the coconut just turns pink color and the mixture is fragrant. once the mixture is cool, grind everything to a fine paste

Sauté all except tomato, in 3tbsp coconut oil for 2 min. Add tomato, sauté till tomato gets soft and oil floats. Add the ground masala, add 1/2 tsp turmeric powder and mix well. Add cooked black chana and bring to a boil. Add hot water if necessary. Taste and then season with salt if needed. Once the curry comes to a good boil, reduce the flame and simmer for about 5 minutes.

For the tempering – In a pan heat one tbsp coconut oil , add mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add whole red chilli, curry leaves, chopped coconut, garlic and pearl onions. When the onions turns red pour over the cooked curry …,add few fresh curry leaves and cover for 10 minutes before serving

Serve hot with Puttu, Appam, Dosa, Chapati, or Pathiri.

For Puttu the curry should be a little thin, for dosa, appam, pathiri and chapati, the curry should be thick