A daily nutritional requirement of human body includes consumption of cereals, vegetables, legumes and fruits proportionately. We at home have been eating all organic food items like Brown Rice and Salads in our daily menu. On my husband’s suggestion of including some legumes once or twice in a week, I have been doing so. In North India, legumes are used in the curries whereas South Indians make dry Sabjis out of legumes. Most nutritious form of legumes is sprouts abundant with proteins. It helps in metabolism and cell growth. Our popular legume recipe is Usli.
Some usli is made from sprouts and some just before the sprout occurs. Thick legumes like Kabuli Channa and Rajma take longer time to form sprouts and need to be hard cooked. I usually prepare Usli with Moong or Brown Channa. The later one’s Usli has already been there in the site menu. So I thought of preparing some Kabuli Channa Usli and sharing the same with you readers. I wanted to get some new taste in Usli and so I tried adding Masala Powder to it. This new version of mine gave good results. We ate this Masala Channa Usli just before eating Chapati and it was so filling. Including Dhanya everyone at home liked this innovative taste.
Plan one day earlier to make recipes out of legumes. You will need to soak the Kabuli channa previous night itself in order to get soft ones after cooking. Preparation of Masala Channa Usli is very simple. I just want to do everything methodically. Hence my suggestion of keeping things ready on hand. If you do the roast and grinding part first, it is well and good. Just you need to pressure cook the pre-soaked channa and do the seasoning. Once that step is done add the Masala powder, grated Coconut and mix well. You can serve this simple looking, yet tasty and healthy Masala Channa Usli plain as evening snack or with the main course.
Masala Channa Usli Ingredients:
- Kabuli Channa – 1 Cup
- Grated Coconut – 2 Tbsp
- Salt – 1/2 tsp and (1/2 tsp for cooking Kabuli Channa)
- Coriander Leaves
Seasoning Ingredients:
- Oil – 1 Tbsp
- Mustard Seeds – 1/2 tsp
- Curry Leaves – 8
- Red Chili – 1 broken
- Hing – Pinch
Roast and Grinding Ingredients:
- Channa Dal or Bengal Gram – 1 Tbsp
- Urad Dal / White Lentils- 1 tsp
- Coriander Seeds or Dhaniya – 1 tsp
- Red Chillies – 3
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Soaking Time for Kabuli Channa: Over Night
Serves: 4
How to Make Masala Channa Usli:
1. Wash and soak Kabuli Channa in hot water for 6 to 8 hours or overnight according to your time of preparation.
2. Pressure cook the Kabuli Channa with 1/2 tsp of Salt by adding the same soaked water for 7 whistles or until it becomes soft. I usually cook for 10 whistles.
3. Dry roast the Channa Dal, Urad Dal, Coriander Seeds and Red Chillies till they change to slight golden in colour. Leave it to cool. Once it cools completely, grind it in a small mixer jar till you get smooth powder.
4. Heat Oil in a pan, add Mustard Seeds, broken Red Chilli, Curry Leaves and Hing. Fry a bit.
5. Drain the water from Kabuli Channa and add to the Seasoning. Fry for a minute. Then add Masala Powder from step 3 and add Grated Coconut. Mix well once. Now add another 1/2 tsp Salt and mix well. Adjust the Salt according to your taste.
6. Finally add Chopped Coriander Leaves and mix well.
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