Chana Garam

If you have travelled by train in India anytime, you are sure to bump into a hawker selling Chana Chat(popularly known as Chana Garam). As a student I used to travel sleeper class between Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar and there was a specific station where hawkers selling this chat would hop on the train. In a bat of an eyelid they would chop all the vegetables and mix it with the boiled Chana and hand it over to you in a paper cone. And not to forget they top it with a small piece of tender coconut. If the guy is little friendly he may give you an extra piece of the coconut too.

The Chana Dal sitting on my pantry self had been pleading me for a while to take it and make it a part of my menu and may be my blog if I get little generous. The Chana Dal brought back so many old memories that it became difficult for me ignore it any further.

Preparation Time - 20 minutes

Serves - 2

Ingredients

Chana Dal - 1 Cup

Onion - 1/2 Cup finely chopped

Boiled Potatoes - 1/2 cup cubed

Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Green Chillies - 2

Tomato Chopped - 1/2 cup

Chat Masala - 1 tsp

Lemon juice - 2 tsp

Curry Leaves - few

Salt per taste

Oil for cooking

Method of Preparation

1 Soak the dal for few hours. Add salt to the water and pressure cook it till soft.

2 In a frying pan add about 2 tsp of oil. When hot add mustard seeds to sputter. Add chopped green chillies and curry leaves. Add onion and saute for 2 - 3 minutes

3 To this seasoned oil, add the boiled dal and mix well.

4 Remove to a mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients ( boiled potatoes + tomato + Chat Masala + Lemon juice) and mix well.

Serving Tips

Serve hot.

Variation

You may also add chopped cucumber, carrots,cilantro and freshly cut tender coconut.

Other Names

Chana Garam - Chana Chat, Chatpata Chana