Chana Usal with Tomatoes

Did you know that chickpeas are rich in iron content ? My doc recently advised me to start eating iron-rich foods. So I started researching a bit and found that chickpeas have more iron content than cooked spinach, contrary to popular belief. Also I found this article on the internet which said most of the iron in spinach is not bio-available. Not sure how much true the article is, but here it is for your reference. Also found this amazing article on chickpeas alone and loved it. Here it is for all of you to enjoy !!! I would surely love to know what the connection is between Lord Shiva and chickpeas too.

Anyway, so I had these cans of chickpeas at home and I decided to make some Chana Usli.

"Usli" in konkani is a simple dish prepared with / without onions and garnished with shredded coconut and coriander leaves before serving. It can be prepared with any kind of whole pulses, like kabuli chana (white chickpeas), moong (green gram), chana (bengal gram - black chickpeas) etc.,

When my mom makes this dish, she always uses the black chanas. I am ONE HELL of a lazy person, and I never used to eat it, because it needed a lot of chewing work. Even though the chanas are cooked separately in a cooker, they will still be harder than the white chickpeas. "Height of laziness" do you say ??? I totally agree. I have used just a minor variation from my mom's recipe here. I have used tomatoes in my recipe. Tomatoes lend a slight tanginess to the dish.

I regret to say that I don't use accurate measurements in my recipes, because for me its a matter of taste and preferences. So all the measurements are just approximate.

Ingredients

Serves 2
Preparation Time (requires overnight soaking and around 20 mins to cook the chickpeas if you are using dried chickpeas, else this recipe is instant)
Cooking Time - 15 mins

Dried Chickpeas - 1 cup (soaked overnight) (Remember that any kind of dried beans will always double in size when soaked - so this would be approximately 2 cups of soaked chickpeas)
OR
Chickpeas, canned - 2 cans
Tomatoes, medium chopped - 1 medium sized (optional)
Onions, finely chopped - 1 small (optional)
Shredded Coconut - 1 tbsp
Coriander Leaves / Cilantro, finely chopped - 1 tbsp (for garnishing)
Salt to taste

For tempering
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Red Chillies - 3 (more if you want it spicier -- remember, spiciness varies with different kinds of chillies)
Curry Leaves (optional)
Oil

Method

Note: If you are using dried chickpeas, cook them in a pressure cooker before-hand with just as much water as required to cover them and cook them for around 10 mins or until you start to get the first whistle. Then reduce the flame and cook on sim for another 10 mins and then switch off the stove and let cool. Cooking normally in an open vessel may take anywhere between 45 mins to 1 hr.

1. Heat some oil in a pan and add mustard seeds to it. When the mustard seeds start to crackle, add the rest of the tempering ingredients and stir for 2 secs.

Note: If you are adding onions, add it to the tempering before adding the chickpeas and roast them till they turn transparent.

2. Reduce the flame to medium and add in the chickpeas. Add salt as per taste and mix well. Cook this mixture covered for 10 mins. The chickpeas should be cooked soft and should break between your fingers with a little pressure. If you are using pre-cooked chickpeas, you can just add the cooked and drained chickpeas.... Its ok to add a little bit of the water from the cooked chickpeas.

Note: If you are adding tomatoes, add them now, mix well and cook until the tomatoes start oozing out water and blend into the mixture well.

4. Switch off the flame and add coconut and coriander leaves and mix.

Note: If you are adding frozen shredded coconut, then cook for 2 more mins, just to remove the raw flavor and then switch of the flame and add coriander leaves. Same procedure if you are adding (unsweetened) coconut powder available in Indian stores in the US. This is to ensure the coconut powder cooks and softens.

Serve hot as a side-dish with any main course. Can be eaten with rice or breads. It also serves as a snack at all times.