Chickpea, locally known as chana is one of the popular food grains in Nepal. Especially the people in Terai region consume chana as a vegetable in the form of curry, gravy or as a snack, gravy or dry-fried. It is one of those food items, we could eat in many ways like uncooked, boiled, fried, roasted, cooked or curried, hence, there are many ways to eat chana. It is also considered good for health as it is believed to be good for digestion and most of the people take the uncooked chickpea accompanied with honey or mung early in the morning in empty stomach which is believed to have many health benefits, purifying the blood and making the body healthy being one.

This article mentions one of the many ways to eat chana by presenting a recipe of spicy chickpea, also known as Chana Masala which is pretty common cuisine in Nepal. Before preparing to cook, soak the chickpeas overnight or boil it for faster results.

Ingredients:

15 oz can of chickpeas

1 medium chopped onion

1 small chopped tomato

1 tsp garlic paste

1 tsp chana powder (or curry powder)

½ tsp turmeric

½ tsp lemon juice

½ tsp black pepper

1 green chili

1 tsp ghee or butter

Salt to taste

2 tbsp chopped cilantro for garnish

Water as required

Procedure:

First of all, heat a pan and add ghee or butter to it. When it is heated, fry green chili until it turns dark, then add onion and fry it for few seconds until it turns light brown. Then, add garlic paste and fry it for about ten seconds. Now, add turmeric, black pepper, and tomato and fry for about five seconds. After that, add chickpea, chana powder, lemon juice and salt and fry for about thirty seconds. Now, add water and bring to boil. When it starts boiling, let it simmer on low heat for about eight to ten minutes or you can also use a pressure cooker and take it out after two whistles. Garnish it with the chopped cilantro and serve it hot with rice or roti.