Mar 21, 2007

ChaNe Gashi ( Chickpea Curry in Coconut sauce)

Chane Gashi
Chane Gashi or Chickpeas in Coconut sauce is the most delicious konkani curry. The aroma of the chana and the curry leaves just makes the whole meal appetizing. Probably thats the reason why many of them prefer this curry for the festive meals.



As a child I was always put off when my Mom mentioned she had made Chane Gashi for lunch. It was quit boring, since she made it every Fridays. But once I started eating I would just quietly savor on the meal even forgetting that I hated it initially. Later when I had to live away from home, I mostly missed Chane Gashi!

Chana on Fridays
Chana or Chickpeas are the grains for the NavaGraha Shrukra. Many Hindus do have a custom of eating Chana on Fridays. So is with Kulith, the grain for Shani, hence eaten every Saturdays. May be the custom started as a way to incorporate variety of grains in the diet.

Chane Gashi recipe
½ cup grated coconut, fresh or frozen
1" cube tamarind
5-8 roasted red chillies
½ cup Chana, preferably black
½ cup diced jackfruits / suran / raw banana /potatoes
4-5 nos Methi seeds, optional

for seasoning
¼ tsp mustard seeds
2 sprigs curry leaves

Soak chana in water overnight. Drain water and rinse a couple of times. Cook with enough water in the pressure cooker for 6-8 whistles till almost cooked. Use the liquid in which the chana is cooked. Do not disard this water. It has a lot of flavor.

You may use canned chickpeas instead. Rinse the chickpeas a couple of times and use instead of cooked chana. I prefer not to use canned, I find the home cooked one has more flavor and absorbs spices better.

Raw Jackfruit is the best combination for the curry. Suran is also a good choice. If you cannot find both of the these then go for potatoes or raw bananas. Bamboo shoots are also the favorites in the Konkani curries with Coconut sauce, but not a good combination with Chana. I used canned raw jack fruits. Dice the veggie of your choice, add it to the half cooked chana or the canned one and cook till the veggie is fully cooked.

Grind coconut, red chillies and tamarind into a smooth paste. You may roast some methi seeds to the coconut paste and grind a minute more to incorporate them. This paste is called masolu in Konkani.

Transfer the cooked chana to the sauce pot, add the masolu, salt and boil for 5 minutes till the coconut is cooked and all the flavors mix well.

For the seasoning, heat 1 tsp oil, splutter mustard seeds, add curry leaves. Garnish the curry.

Festive Meal

Serve hot with rice and some podis.

Soyi bahjjil Chane Gashi
Soyi = coconut, bahjill = roasted i.e. Chane Gashi with roasted coconut!
This is a special variation of Chane Gashi made with roasted coconut. The recipe is same as above with some modifications. To start with roast the shredded coconut in a tsp of oil to golden brown. The rest of the recipe is same as the above. Roasted Methi seeds is a must in this recipe. This gives a nice aroma to the gashi.

16 comments:

Shivapriya said...

WOw, this is really different from what we cook. We make tadka channa, channa & alu, this is really interesting. I'm going to try this.
Thanks for lovely recipe manju.

Smitha Sathish said...

hey Manjula,
Even I made white chana with canned jackfruit Gashi for ugadi. The combination is awsome.
Smitha

Seema Bhat said...

ju,
Chane Gashi oh my god...my neighbors would prepare this and it would look just the same like yours. How much we enjoy the konkani cuisine. Lovely.
Thanx
Seema

Anonymous said...

Nice to read your post. I made it out of kabuli chana/white chick peas too. Tastes gr8. i use suran/yam as i have never seen fresh raw jackfruit here.

FH said...

Bless you Manjula!!I was looking thru' my cookbooks yesterday and I found this recipe and was about to try and I see it here!!Looks mouthwatering,thanks sweetie!:)

Sia said...

i made this on the day i saw ur ugadi thali:) couldn't resist such temptation u see:)

Dr. Soumya Bhat said...

Hey this is my all time fvorite.I just love the chewy tenter jackfruit,hmmmm

Anonymous said...

Hi Manjula, I think I am going to love gashi. Kaala chana and jackfruit... oh yum! Your photos are mouthwatering. Thanks for sharing this recipe. Right at the top of my "must try" list! :)

Chef Jeena said...

Wow what a great curry recipe, I love your blog :)


visit jeena's kitchen healthy recipe blog

Pelicano said...

Oh yeah....great recipe Manjula! This one's a keeper- thanks for sharing it!

Anonymous said...

Hi Manjula,

This recipe was in to-do list for a long time now. Finally got all ingredients in place and it turned out great. Thanks for recipe.

R xennai said...

Excellent pictures. Wish the plate of Xit and Ghasshi was in front of me :)
well done keep it up

R Xennai

Joanne said...

the ingredients you given are of Ambat and not ghashi.in ghashi we add fried whole coriander seeds, red chillies, ball of tamrind, grated fresh coconut, salt and haldi
can you givve me recie of amti pitti

Joanne said...

the ingredients you given are of Ambat and not ghashi.in ghashi we add fried whole coriander seeds, red chillies, ball of tamrind, grated fresh coconut, salt and haldi

Manjula said...

Joanne,
My style of cooking is konkani cuisine from mangalore. I do not know what amti pitti is.
Ambat, gashi etc varies from region to region and households! Feel free to modify the recipes to suit your taste.

apexsha said...

Is it ok to skip the mustard seasoning? or can I replace it with an alternative option..will It taste the same?