One Pot Chana Masala Curry/ Kerala Style Kadala Curry

Breakfast. The MOST important meal of the day and my favourite! <3 So a sunny morning breakfast meal wouldn't be complete without a quick and easy (read: lazy), super nutritious curry! Enter the one-pot chana masala curry using brown chickpeas/ khala chana.

This is a take on the tried and tested kadala curry that's served best with puttu, vattayappam, bread or anything else that can soak up all the gravy! Instead of adding freshly grated coconut, we went to the store, bought a carton of coconut milk and used that instead. Yes, it's literally THAT easy. Having said that, this tastes just as good without the coconut milk (hmmm so maybe that trip to the store wasn't entirely necessary...). YOU DECIDE! Let me know if you like this recipe with or without the coconut milk <3

Brown Chickpeas

So this is slightly different to your average chickpea in that it's 1. slightly smaller and 2. has a brown casing (although the inside is still yellow). Where can you get it? The friendly neighbourhood Indian store :) For those of you living in HK, there are a lot of Indian stores to choose from!

For a quick nutrition breakdown: 100g (uncooked) = 19g Protein | 27g Carbs | 5g Fat | 17g Fibre. So not only is it tasty, it's also good for you, in moderation of course!

Best way to cook lentils is to 1. soak it overnight, 2. remove the water it was soaked in, 3. cook it with spices (ideally in the pressure cooker OR in a crockpot), 4. enjoy in moderation (approx 10-20% of the meal is recommended).

I chose to cook using a pressure cooker, because time is of the essence and the tummy cannot be kept waiting for too long!

Kitchen Essentials

Pressure Cooker

The fam's been using Prestige for a couple of years now, if there's one thing to be said about it, it's VERY durable. Literally all that we've needed changed is its rubber ring, which is more than expected wear and tear.

I remember my cousin moving to the US with this massive cooker in tow and then regaling us with stories of her cooking adventures that required ONLY the cooker. I was well impressed then, I'm still impressed now! XD

Now, I understand it's actually a lot easier than I imagined it!! Well, time to tuck right in to this ridiculously easy and nutritious breakfast curry!

Did you find it easy to cook too? Comment below and let me know how you got on!

Instructions

On medium heat, heat oil in pressure cooker and splutter jeera seeds. Add ginger, garlic and onion and saute till translucent. Add salt, coriander powder, turmeric powder and chilli powder. Saute till slightly golden, finally add garam masala powder and saute till onions are golden.
Add tomato and stir well. Add brown chickpea, 1 cup water and coconut milk. Cover the pressure cooker, add the weight and let cook for 1 whistle. Once whistle blows, lower heat to low and cook for another 10 minutes before switching off flame.
Wait for steam to completely escape, then open pressure cooker and pour out the curry into a serving bowl and serve hot :)

Note:

If you want a thicker curry, once you've cooked and opened the pressure cooker, switch to high flame and cook the curry further to let water evaporate. Then, pour into a serving dish and enjoy!