Kadala Curry Recipe – Kerala Kadala Curry For Puttu, Appam

• Black Chana/ Kondakadalai – 1 cup
• Coconut oil – 1 tbsp
• Tomato – 2 nos 
• Big onion – 1 no
• Ginger,garlic paste – 1 tbsp
• Green chilli – 1 no ( slitted)
• Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
• Coconut bits – 1/4 cup ( optional)
• Water & salt – as needed

To grind

• Coconut oil – 2 tsp
• Grated coconut – 1/2 cup
• Red chilli powder – 1 tbsp ( I used Kashmiri chilli powder)
• Dhania powder -1.5 tsp
• Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
• Big onion – 1/2 no or small onion – 4 nos
• Cinnamon – 1 inch piece
• Cloves – 3 nos
• Cardamom – 2 no
• Fennel seeds – 1/2 tsp
• Water – as needed

To temper

• Coconut oil – 1 tbsp
• Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
• Red chilli – 1 no
• Big onion – 1/2 no ( chopped finely. I din’t use)
• Curry leaves – few

• Wash and soak the chana overnight. It would be doubled in quantity after soaking. Slice the onion,chop tomato into small pieces. Set aside.

• Heat coconut oil in a pressure cooker and saute the onions, G&G paste till the raw smell of paste goes off. Now add the slitted green chilli, tomato pieces. Saute till tomato turns mushy.Add the coconut bits (if using) and saute well. Add the soaked chickpeas, turmeric powder, salt and 1.5 cups of water.Let it pressure cook in low flame for 2 whistles.Remove the lid after the steam is released. Mix well.

• In the mean time, heat coconut oil in a kadai and saute the cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, onion, grated coconut, fennel seeds.Saute till grated coconut turns slightly golden.To this, add the red chilli powder, turmeric powder, dhania powder and mix well. Let it cool. Then grind everything to a smooth paste adding enough water.

• After opening the cooker, add the ground paste, 1/2 cup of water and let it boil for few minutes till the gravy reaches desired consistency. When the gravy boils, check for taste.Add more salt or chilli powder if needed. If you want very thin, watery gravy add 1/4 cup more water. If you want thick, switch it off after boiling for sometime. I made it slightly thick.

• In a small kadai, heat coconut oil and splutter mustard seeds, pinched red chilli, chopped onions and curry leaves. Add to the gravy. Mix well and serve with puttu, appam, dosa !!

Enjoy !
NOTE : If you want to thicken the gravy, you can grind a handful of cooked chana to a paste and add it along with coconut paste.By doing this, gravy will thicken quickly and adds a taste too.

• Adjust the quantity of spice powders are per your taste.
• In some recipes, I found dhania seeds were used instead of dhania powder. So you can also try that for variations.
• Do not add more water while cooking chana. Use only the needed else gravy will be too watery and you have to boil it for longer time to thicken it.