We celebrated Baisakhi on Monday April 13th, a day after Easter Sunday. There would have been a special procession, communal feast and celebrations with dhol beats and bhangra if it was not for quarantine life and social distancing. We prayed privately at home. Afterwards, I served traditional thali for lunch (kheer, parshad, soohe kaale chane, tari waale aloo and poorie) and celebrated Baisakhi with my cousin’s family on zoom. Its a blessing to have technology in these hard times.
Update October 4th, 2022
Check the video for instant pot sookhe kaale chane
Sookhe kaale chane also called parshad waale chane are made with dried Indian black chickpeas, also go by the name bengal gram or desi kala chana. These are available in Indian market and the Asian section of the Canadian grocery stores. They look a lot like regular chickpeas except they are smaller and brownish black in color. Their texture is more robust and even after cooking they will never become completely soft or breakdown like other legumes. Just keep in mind that prior to cooking you have to soak them overnight or at least for 8 hours.
The recipe of masala coated dry black chickpeas is cooked, using very few basic spices and does not contain any onion, garlic, or tomatoes. The dish is very easy to make and if you choose to make it with canned chickpeas then it gets much easier and faster. You can make it in less than 20 minutes. This quick and easy dish is often eaten with poories or paratha but, of course, it can be served with chapati or included in a salad to give a protein boost.
So let’s get the Baisakhi lunch rolling with the sookhe kale chane recipe. The kheer and parshad are already on the blog and I made poories with a blend of GF all purpose flour and whole Bengal gram flour spiked with salt and ajwain (carom seeds).
Ingredients
- 2 x 540 ml cans drained ( or 4 cups boiled) Kaale chane (Bengal gram)
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 1' piece ginger
- 2 green chilies
- 1 tsp peppercorns
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 cup water
- red chili powder (if required)
- salt to taste
- 3 tbsp oil
- 2 tsp amchur ( dry mango powder) or lemon juice to taste
Instructions
- Grind, ginger, green chilies, coriander seeds and peppercorns with little water.
- Coarsely grind one cup of boiled chana.
- Heat oil in an instant pot on saute (on normal). Add the ground wet masala and turmeric powder, stir fry for few seconds. Add 3 cups whole Chana and the coarsely ground chana along with water and salt.
- Cancel sauté. Close and lock the lid; set the valve to sealing and set to cook at high pressure for 5 or minutes (or on low pressure for 8 minutes).
- Allow the pressure to release naturally.
- Open the lid. Stir in Amchur.
- Cook on normal sauté function until the water dries up.
- Transfer to a serving bowl. Garnish with ginger julienne.
- Serve with poori or paratha or enjoy in salad.
Notes
The natural pressure release can take about 30 minutes but if you are in a hurry you can release pressure manually after 10 minutes.
angiesrecipes
I have never seen black chickpea here..really need to pay a visit an Indian store here to get some to try. The salad looks really tasty!
Jeff the Chef
This is new to me! I’m intrigued by the black chickpea, and I love the spice combination!
priya
Nothing can beat sukhe chane and pooris 🙂 hope you had a great one.
John / Kitchen Riffs
I’ve never used black chickpeas, but love the way they look. And bet I’d love the way they taste. Neat recipe — thanks.
Kelly | Foodtasia
Balvinder, this Sookhe Kaale Chane looks so flavorful and delicious! I would love it with pooris!
Katerina
These are so unusual! I have never seen black chickpeas! They look delicious!
Juliana
Oh Balvinder, this is such an interesting dish…and I have never seen black chickpeas…would love to try it. Thanks for the recipe…have a great and safe week ahead!
sherry
oh yum i love chickpeas; this looks fabulous.