Braised Kadala (brown chickpeas) was quintessential prayer food, growing up in South Africa. Amma made it for the fasting prayer, Lakshmi Day or as a snack. Much like Amma’s samp and beans, it is tempered in whole spices. It gets its flavour and aroma from the combination of fried onion, mustard seed, jeera, curry leaves and dried chillies. For a fresh new way of enjoying an old favourite, toss leftover kadala into a green salad for a protein-packed light lunch or enjoy as a side with grilled meat.

Braised Kadala Recipe

Braised Kadala Recipe South Africa

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Recipe by Ms Pillay Course: Prayer Food, Purtassi, Vegetarian

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

40

minutes

Calories

300

kcal

Total time

0

minutes

Cook Mode

Keep the screen of your device on

Ingredients

US Metric

• 1 cup 1 brown chickpeas

• 3 cups 3 water

• 3 cups 3 water

• salt

• 2 medium 2 onions

• 1 teaspoon 1 black mustard seeds

• 4 4 birds eye chillies

• 1 tablespoon 1 jeera seeds

• curry leaves

• 4 tablespoons 4 vegetable oil

Directions

• Place whole chickpeas on a tray. Remove any chipped pieces or stones.
• Soak the chickpeas overnight in 3 cups of water.
• Before boiling, rinse and wash thoroughly.
• Add chickpeas to pot then add 3 cups water.
• Boil for 2 hours. Press to test of cooked. It should be soft when pressed but held together by thick outer skin. Has a nut-like texture and sound.
• Drain, remove all excess water. Allow cooling.
• Heat a pan on medium heat.
• Add mustard seeds and jeera. Roast for a minute or two until the seeds pop.
• Remove seeds from pan.
• Add oil. Add finely sliced onion and dried chillies.
• Add curry leaves and mustard and jeera seeds.
• Fry until onions are slightly brown and soft.
• Add boiled kadala, mix, then serve warm.

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What is Brown Chickpeas?

Brown chickpeas (also known as Kala chana, black chickpea or desi type), stem from the same family Fabaceae, as its larger, paler cousin the garbanzo bean. The latter is smoother and commonly used to make hummus and falafel. Brown chickpeas have a thick covering which accounts for its nutty texture and flavour. There is more than meets the eye to this type of thick-skinned chickpea. When the skin is removed, it reveals a yellow inner. It is split to form chana dhal which is also used to make yellow split gram dhal (chana dhal). The powder form is known as Chana flour, gram flour or Besan.

How to Cook Brown Chickpeas

This variety of chickpea is less common than its paler counterpart. It can be found in ethnic food shops in whole or canned form. When cooking brown chickpeas, it is best to soak overnight, rinse thoroughly then boil for at least two hours before braising. Although it has a soft texture when cooked, it retains a nut-like form due to its thick skin. This also accounts for it’s longer cooking time.

To make braised Kadla, boil then add to whole spice-infused oil.

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