Pappad Parathas and Aloo – Kaala Channa Masala

Hello friends….

When I sat down to write this post, I was really excited and thrilled . The day I wrote my first post, I had this very same feeling.That day, I was treading unknown waters,not sure how the blog would be received,how long I would continue writing,was it worth spending so much time on this and so on. But today the excitement and happiness is because I am writing my 1000th post! Yes, it has taken me four and a half years to reach this milestone but I am not complaining.

I celebrated the 500th post with Kaala Jamun .I wanted to reach the 1000th post sooner but other things in life took the front seat and this blog had to grow slowly.The support from my blogging marathon team members,readers and friends keep me going.Thanks a bunch dearies….

So with all the excitement and thrill, here is my post for the day…

One thing that I look forward to each month is the various dishes that I prepare and post for  Blogging Marathon.The themes that Srivalli puts up are challenging, fun to cook with and of course very interesting. This week ,I have chosen – Delicious Dals as the theme and the dish for the day is a delicious Aloo- Kaala channa masala. Potato and black channa is a great combo in this gravy and we had it with pappad parathas.

First let me write about the parathas. This is a recipe that I bookmarked from Anjana’s Maayeka.She has loads of traditional Indian recipes esp. North Indian ones. When I was browsing through her blog some time back, my eyes fell on this pappad parathas and as always, I knew I had to make this.

I love pappads . Earlier, I never used to have a meal without these crunchy discs.Now times have changed and I fry pappads very rarely.But the mention on this pappad being used as a stuffing sounded very different and I wanted to try it out.

The original recipe uses refined flour for the parathas,but I used whole wheat flour here.The stuffing has chopped green chillies but I left it out as I felt it will be very spicy if we bite into it unknowingly.Also I did not add salt to the stuffing.

Pappad Parathas
Adapted from:  Maayeka

I used :

For the dough:

Wheat flour – 3 cups
Mint leaves, a handful, cleaned and chopped
Cumin seeds -1 teaspoon
Salt to taste

For the stuffing:

Urad dal pappads – 3
Chaat masala – 1 teaspoon
Red chilli powder- 1/2 teaspoon
Coriander leaves- 2 tablespoons,chopped
Oil to deep fry the pappad

How to proceed:

For the filling:

1. Deep fry the pappad till brown.
2. In a bowl, crush it, add the chaat masala,chopped coriander, red chilli powder and mix well.Keep aside

Pinch off a golf sized ball of the dough and roll out into a small circle.Place a little of the filling in the center

Bring the edges together and seal.

Roll out into a paratha. Dust a little flour if needed.

Heat a griddle and cook on both sides till brown spots appear.

Remove from heat and serve with a side dish of your choice.

I loved the filling for this paratha. The taste from the chaat masala with the coriander and mint was awesome!

Now to the theme of the week – Delicious Dals, here is the simple and easy dal that can be prepared in the pressure cooker without  the hassle of standing in front of the stove top and checking if its done…..

I used:

Kaala channa – 1 cup
Potato – 1, large, peeled and cubed
Onion- 1,roughly chopped
Tomato-2,roughly chopped
Ginger- 1″ piece
Garlic- 5 pods, peeled
Garam masala- 1 teaspoon
Red chilli powder- 1 teaspoon
Cumin – 1 teaspoon
Kasuri methi / dried fenugreek leaves- 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Oil- 1 tablespoon

1. Soak the kaala channa for atleast 6-8 hours. [See note below].Drain and keep aside.
2. Grind the onion, tomato,garlic and ginger to a fine paste. Water may not be needed to make the paste.But add if you feel you need some.
3. Heat oil in a pressure cooker and put in the cumin seeds.
4. When it splutters, add the ground paste and cook for a few minutes.
5. Next in goes the garam masala, chilli powder and salt.
6. Mix well and add water if the mixture i too dry.Cook for a couple of minutes.
7. Add 4 cups of water and bring it to a boil.
8. Add the soaked channa, potato and pressure cook for 15 minutes or till done.
9. When the pressure releases, remove the lid and check of there is adequate gravy, else add more water. If teh gravy is very watery, take out a ladleful of cooked channa and grind it to a paste and add to the gravy.
10. Bring the gravy to a simmer and add the kasuri methi.Cook for a minute and remove from heat.

Serve garnished with coriander leaves and fresh cream,as a side dish for roti / paratha/ poori.

• If you forget to soak the kaala channa, here is a shortcut.Boil water and transfer it into a hot case / hot pack.Put in the kaal channa that has to be soaked.Close the lid and let it sit there for 3-4 hours. The channa soaks faster this way.
• If you have a rice cooker, you can put in water and kaala channa into it and turn it on to the ‘keep warm’ mode.Keep checking the water level and keep refilling water. The channa will get cooked in a few hours.After this , prepare the gravy in a pan.
• You can add 1 teaspoon of tamarind paste for a tangy gravy.
• You can use fresh cream for a richer version of this dish before adding the kasuri methi.
• Adjust the spice levels to suit your taste.

Bon Appetit…