Monday

Green Chick Peas Sautéed with Onions

Green Channa1

I was surprised to spot fresh green chick peas in a local farmer’s market. I had presumed that these were available fresh only in the “Bhaaji Galis” (street side produce markets) of Mumbai. If you are familiar with Mumbai (Bombay), in summers along the Marine Drive, you’d for sure see the “channa waalahs” make spicy green chick pea salads with fresh onions, tomatoes, red chili powder and a dash of lime.

Crisp, tender and mildly sweet these chick peas were simply irresistible. I bought a pound of these chick peas (on the pod) along with farm fresh onions, lemons and cilantro. I sun dried them for a week in the scorching Texas sun and tried recreating this Marine Drive “finger” food with the ingredients I could list from memory. Though the original recipe used fresh chick peas, I gave it a slight twist with these sun dried chick peas and sautéed onions.

This recipe could be modified by replacing the fresh green chick peas with sprouted green chick peas. It’s a quick fix spicy salad and is refreshing when served with cold yoghurt in summer.


Ingredients

2 cups Green chick peas fresh or sundried

½ cup diced onions

2 teaspoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed

¼ teaspoon Turmeric powder

½ teaspoon Red Chili powder

½ teaspoon cilantro, finely chopped

Oil

Salt

Method

To a skillet add lemon juice and onions. Sauté for 3-4 mins, on medium heat, till the onions turn lightly transparent.

Add salt, turmeric powder, chili powder and cilantro. Mix well. Throw in the chick peas, sauté for 4-5 mins.

Serve hot or at room temperature with cold yoghurt.

The sun dried chick peas were slightly harder. Though they were in close resemblence to the dried packaged version, they required no pressure cooking and had a flavor very different from the completely dried and fresh ones. The dark color and the semi-dryness gave these chick peas a unique taste. If using fresh chick peas, its best to use them as is than sautéing to enhance its true flavors.

22 comments:

notyet100 said...

LOOKS YUMMY...STREET WALA CHANA IS ALWAYS DELICIOUS,..

Jaya M said...

Eskay,
it look so lovely, and may be sun-dried taste better than normal ones Iguess..a great snack at any time of the day ..
hugs and smiles
jaya

delhibelle said...

Its been ages since I saw these fresh green chickpeas. Looks glorius!

SMN said...

this looks yum great combo with chapatis..

sunita said...

Hi Eskay, how've you been :-)

The dish looks great :-)

Medhaa said...

Hi, Never heard of them before, love the color.

FH said...

I used to eat this green peas when I was in school, came in a big bunch of greens and we used to peel and eat those!:)
Stir fry looks delicious! They are sweet beans to taste.

Sia said...

street food rocks and this green chickpeas stir fry is my fav snack...

Ramya's Mane Adige said...

serving it with yogurt sounds good!!! Lovely pic, as always :)

Anonymous said...

That looks so good! Fresh green chickpeas in a curry would have tasted awesome. We call those fresh green chickepeas as 'Boot' and we usually used to devour upon them raw!

www.zaiqa.net

Sihi said...

Thank you notyet100.I more than agree with you on the street wala channa.

Sihi said...

Thank you Jaya. I like both the versions. It certainly is an 'anytime' snack.

Sihi said...

Thank you Rashmi. Glad you liked it.

Sihi said...

It sure is SMN. Thanks for stopping by.

Sihi said...

Hey Sunita, I've been good. How have you been? Glad you liked this recipe:)

Sihi said...

Medhaa,these must be available in your local farmer's market. I know the ultra dried versions that you need to soak and pressure cook are available in most Desi grocery stores, especially in Brampton.

Sihi said...

Asha, Glad to know this brought back fond memories.

Sihi said...

It truly does Sia. How have you been? Thanks for stopping by.

Sihi said...

Thank you Ramya:) Yoghurt and channa are one of my favorite combos.

Sihi said...

Thank you Mona. These chick peas are great just by themselves.

Bhawana said...

Eskay, green chik pea recipe looking delicious. wud u tell me pls whr I can get them in US??

Sihi said...

Thanks Bhawana. I'm not quite sure which part of the US you live in. I found this at a local farmer's market. Check out your local farmer's market or the international produce section of organic food stores. You may find it there.