Rase Wale Kale Chane

(can you feel the steam around the piping hot chane?

I almost scalded my hands taking the pic right off the stove)

Isn't it interesting how some foods are associated with a particular festival. You cannot mention one without referring to the other in the same breath. Like, Kale Chane, Puri and Halwa is always associated with 'Kanchken' during the 'Navraten', cannot think of 'Lodi' without 'gajak & revadi', has to be 'tilgul' on 'Sankranti' and who can miss the 'churma na ladu' for 'Ganesh Chaturthi'.

Is it the association of the weather with the contents of the festive foods? or is it that it was linked to be 'God's' favorite food. Whatever the case may be, these associations are stronger than one can think!

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Today I'll share with you one of my most favorite dishes of all times - Rase Wale Kale Chane (black chana). This boon from mother earth is full of all the nutrition you can think of and is widely available where ever yo go, no excuse really not to eat it. There are so many variations of this wonderful legume, each with it's own spice addition, not that it needs any ;-)

I make it as a gravy dish 'Rase Wale' as well as a dry one. The dry kale chane is the trademark symbol associated with 'Kanchaken'. Also the additional perk for us kids (girls only, mind you) used to be the 10paise & 25paise coins that we used to get along with this as a parshad. I will give both the recipes here.

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Here is the recipe for Rase Wale Kale Chane.

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1/2 cup Kale chane soaked overnight

1 onion finely chopped

1 tomato finely chopped or 3 tbsp tomato puree

1 tbsp ginger & garlic paste

Haldi, chili pwd, jeera pwd, garam masala, amchur pwd (as per taste, you know the drill)

2 tbsp ghee (can reduce or substitute with oil as per calorie constraints)

1/2 tsp jeera, 1" cinnamon, 1 black cardamom, 1 bay leaf, a pinch hing

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Pressure cook the soaked chane. You need to cook this for a long time, do not worry, however long you cook them they never lose their shape, they always hold the identity that mother nature gave them. I cook for 30 minutes in the pressure cooker.

Heat ghee, add jeera, hing, cinnamon, black cardamom, bay leaf & hing. (It's ok if you do not have all the spices, just jeera is fine too, as I mentioned before these pearls of nutrition are great as is).

Add onion, ginger/garlic paste and saute till brown. Add tomato, haldi powder, jeera powder, salt, amchur, garam masala & cook well. I do not put all the spice powders all the time, play with the spices you like and create your own spice mix. Add boiled chane with the water it is boiled in and simmer for a few minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve with rice or roti.
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Now for the dry kale chane.

This is a very simple and quick method to get one extremely tasty dish.

1 cup kale chana soaked & pressure cooked till done

1/2 onion finely chopped

2 cloves garlic chopped

2 tbsp oil

Rai, jeera, red chili, curry leaves

Jeera pwd, coriander pwd, haldi, red chili pwd, garam masala, pepper pwd, cinnamon pwd, amchur

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Heat oil, add rai, jeera, hing, curry leaves & red chili. Add onion, green chili and garlic, saute till brownish. Add haldi, jeera pwd, coriander pwd, amchur, cinamon powder, pepper powder, garam masala, salt & chili pwd. Stir well till spices cook and emanate a tantalizing aroma. Add boiled chane and cook till most of the water evaporates. This way the spices kind of surround the chane in a thickish film. These chane are to be enjoyed with puri and sooji halwa, aah! SHEER BLISS! You don't have to take my word for it, just try it once and you will know what I'm raving about!!

(Will post my halwa recipe soon).