Kala Chana Ghugni / Bihari Style

21 Aug Kala Chana Ghugni / Bihari Style

Kala Chana Ghugni is a popular, delicious and favourite dish with every family in Bihar. As always, each has its own recipe. In fact, it’s a popular snack in all Eastern States of India like Assam, Odisha and Bengal, though the preparation may vary slightly from State to State. Some families consume it as morning breakfast as well. Ghugni is the generic name. You can also make this Ghugni with yellow peas or channa dal, or even with chole at times. In Bihar they offer this Ghugni as prasad during Navratri, but avoid onion and garlic for this.

I have always amazed at the variety our Indian cuisine offers using one ingredient. The same Kala Chana in Tamil Nadu takes the form of Sundal, in Kerala as Kadala Curry, in Rajasthan as Chana Jaisalmeri and so on. Each of these uses its own ingredients, that varies from the other slightly but gives an exclusive palate to the dish. The result is, you can prepare so many varieties with one ingredient if you amalgamate the cuisines.

My intention has always been towards this end. It is my humble effort to introduce my North, East, South and West Indian friends to all Indian cuisines other than their own and also to few International cuisines.

Health benefits of Kala Chana

Incidentally, Kala Chana has many health benefits. It’s a good source of proteins if you are a vegetarian. Hence including legumes such as Kala Chana in your diet regularly is a means to maintain optimum health. You can consume these legumes as dry sabzis, in salad and soups or as an evening snack.

It is as usual an easy to prepare dish. This version is generally dry. However, you can make it to your preference. Bihari homes mostly serve this with Chura (Roasted Poha Chiwda).

Try this healthy, delicious Kala Chana Ghugni at home.

Print Recipe

Kala Chana Ghugni / Bihari Style

Kala Chana Ghugni is a popular, delicious and favourite dish with every family in Bihar. As always, each has its own recipe. In fact, it’s a popular snack in all Eastern States of India like Assam, Odisha and Bengal, though the preparation may vary slightly from State to State.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time25 minutes mins

Soaking time8 hours hrs

Total Time8 hours hrs 35 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast, Main Course, Snack

Cuisine: Bihar

Keyword: Kala chana, brown chana, Bihari, breakfast, snack, street food, healthy, delicious

Servings: 3 people

Ingredients

• ½ cup Brown Chana
• ½ cup thinly sliced onion
• 1 medium tomato
• 3 green chillies
• 1" piece ginger
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• ½ tsp garam masala powder
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• asafoetida
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 dry red chillies broken
• 2 tsp oil

Instructions

• Soak chana overnight / 8 hours minimum.
• Pressure cook with just enough water and enough salt till chana gets cooked. Reserve 2 tsp for grinding.
• Grind tomato, green chillies, ginger, 2 tsp sliced onion and 2 tsp reserved chana to a smooth paste.
• Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds, bay leaves and red chillies.
• Once it splutters, add asafoetida and add the sliced onions. Sauté till onions become brown.
• Add the ground paste, red chilli powder, dhania powder, turmeric powder and salt for the gravy.
• Sauté for few more minutes till the gravy blends together.
• Add the boiled chana with water and simmer till it becomes almost dry.
• Serve garnished with sliced onion and green chillies.

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