Kaala Chana-Aloo Masala

When I was a child every friday my mom used to make this something with kala chana.  Either kala chana Aamati or masala curry or just boiled with salt and sprinkle some chat masala and chili powder over it.  Sometimes she used to add some chopped onions, tomatoes and coriander and serve as chaat.  In the evening while returning from office my Dad used to get some salted and roasted chana-shengadana,
packed in a paper cone still little warm.  As soon as he is home we all used to sit together and finish our share while it is still hot/warm.  Oh, those olden, golden days will never be back.

This friday I made this curry to go with some pooris. 

Ingredients:
1 Cup kala channa soaked overnight and cooked
2 Medium Potatoes boiled, peeled and diced
2 Tomatoes diced
1 big Onion finely chopped
1 tsp Ginger garlic paste
1 tsp Turmeric powder
1.5 tsp Kashmiri Chilli powder
2 tsp Dhania Powder
1 tsp Cumin Powder
1 tsp Garam Masala
1 tsp Jeera
1 tbsp Oil
1/2 tsp Ghee (Optional)
2 tbsp Chopped cilantro to garnish
Salt to taste

What to do: 
Heat the oil and ghee in a heavy bottomed pan and season with jeera. Add the chopped onions and ginger garlic paste. Fry till dark brown. Add chopped tomatoes and cook till soft.  Add the diced potatoes.
When the tomatoes turn soft, add turmeric, chilli powder, dhania powder, cumin powder and salt. Add the cooked channa and a cup of water. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.
Add garam masala, cover and cook till oil separates.
Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot with puris/rotis/pulav varieties.

Manga Thokku

I always buy some raw mangoes from grocery store and after dumping them in fridge I throw them in trash. But this time I bought the mangoes and really wanted to use them.  I was thinking of making chunda but finally I made some pickle.  This is a very simple but delicious recipe.

What I used:
2 raw mangoes

1 tsp Mustard Seeds

1/2 tsp Haldi/Turmeric Powder

1/2 cup Olive oil

4 tsp Salt

5 tsp Red Chilli Powder or according to your taste

1 tsp Methi/fenugreek seeds dry roasted till light brown

A big pinch of Hing roasted

What I did with :

Peel the mangoes & grate.  I did with the hand grater.  You can use the food processor but I don't like because it leaves more water when grated in food processor.

Heat olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan when heated add mustard seeds.  Then add the grated mangoes stir once.  Add turmeric powder and again give a nice stir.

Now add the salt and the red chilli powder.  Mix and turn the heat to medium low.

Let it cook for 40-50 minutes.  You will know with the texture of the thokku if it is cooked.

Meanwhile, roast the methi seeds and the hing.  Grind to a fine powder.

When the thokku is cooked fully, add the methi-hing powder.  Now mix everything and turn off the heat.
And taa-daa your mango thokku is ready.
Store it in a completely dried glass/plastic bottle.  I prefer to store pickles in glass bottles.  If  refrigerated can be kept for few months, but ours will be finished in a week or 10 days.
Have a look of my mango thokku/pickle.