Chana Masala with Green Garbanzo and Paneer
Green Garbanzo and Paneer Curry with Chapati ~ Our Meal Today
The last few days have been wonderfully pleasant here. The kind of weather that warms the heart and pulls us away from the spell of blank-screen bewitching ways. I took a break from routine house/blog chores and went out for shopping. Among other things, I also bought supplies needed to set up the container garden. I had to leave my neat garden setup when we moved from Ohio to Seattle last fall. Time for fresh start again. The planters, the potting soil and of course the plants. 4 cherry tomatoes, mint, a yellow rose and some marigolds. Peas and methi plants that I started from seed last month are now about 8 inches tall. I transferred all of them to the new and freshly filled big containers. I passed on planting cilantro this year. We get two to three bunches for a dollar anyway, so the loss will not be missed at all. New thing I am trying out this summer is growing lemon grass and taro plant for nutritious leaves. That’s my garden log for summer 07.
One another thing I did was, I shopped at Pike Place Market after a long time. Guess what I found there – green garbanzos in pods. I bought about 4 pounds. Freshly shelled from the pods, the lively green garbanzos were a treat. I divided them to two portions. One for the timeless classic, guggllu type preparation and with the second portion I’ve prepared the chana masala style curry for today’s lunch. Green garbanzos and creamy paneer cooked in garbanzo-sesame sauce. A fresh tasting paneer chole with chapatis, good meal!
Green Garbanzo and Paneer Cubes
Recipe:
1 onion – finely chopped
2 cups fresh green garbanzos (chickpeas, dubba sanagalu)
½ cup paneer, cubed to bite sized pieces
2 tablespoons – chana masala powder (readymade or homemade)
1 tablespoon –Amchur powder or tamarind juice (acts as souring agent)
1 tablespoon – jaggery/sugar (brings sweetness)
½ teaspoon each -salt, chilli powder and turmeric (the much needed spices)
For Garbanzo-Sesame Sauce:
In a blender, take about
3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds – grind to fine paste. To it, add
½ cup green garbanzo
3 tomatoes and 1 inch sized ginger – finely chopped
Add about a cup of water and grind to smooth consistency.
In a saucepan, heat about a teaspoon of oil. Add and saute onions to golden. Add the garbanzo-sesame sauce.
Stir in green garbanzo, chana masala powder, amchur powder, jaggery, salt, chilli powder and turmeric. Stir in about a cup of water. Cover with a lid and simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes on medium heat, stirring in-between.
When the sauce starts to thicken, add the paneer cubes. Simmer another 5 to 10 minutes on low heat so that paneer could absorb the sauce.
Serve warm with chapati/paratha or with rice.
Green Garbanzo and Paneer Curry
Good post Indira. Do you have a picture of the Garbanzo in pods. I haven’t seen it that way. Pl. post a picture of it if you have.
Sri Valli
Comment by Sri Valli — May 16, 2007 @ 7:27 pm
Nice to hear abt ur garden activity ….Lemon grass and taro plant …wow ..i have still not set up my garden …really getting inspired after seeing the blogger’s …Nice recipe ..Thks for sharing
Comment by Deepa — May 16, 2007 @ 7:30 pm
Thanks Sri Valli.
I took some photos of garbanzos in pods today before shelling them for this curry. I will publish them tomorrow.
Hi Deepa, finally we had a break from cold weather, so the hungama.:)
I look forward to reading your garden post. Thanks.
Comment by Indira — May 16, 2007 @ 7:48 pm
Hi Indira..u can’t do this to me!u have to parcel some here..the roti wrapped photo is so tempting and now i am really hungry! 🙂
Comment by madhuli — May 16, 2007 @ 9:18 pm
Green garbanzo in pods, ain’t that a pretty sight. I felt very bad throwing away all the green pods. Only later I remembered your Nimona post. But after that I never saw fresh green garbanzo in our area.
Cool breeze..hmmmm… It was 105 yesterday in my city. You happy souls..
Comment by Suganya — May 16, 2007 @ 10:37 pm
Wow garden update. Love to have a glimpse of the set up. I am trying my luck with Okra this time Lets see !!
Comment by Revathi — May 16, 2007 @ 11:01 pm
Taro? in containers? i’m interested to know how you did it, dont they grow to about a meter or 2?
Comment by freshma — May 16, 2007 @ 11:17 pm
good to know u had break from cold weather indira. here we r stuck with rain and wind. i haven’t seen any fresh green garbanzo yet. it might sound like a silly question, are green garbanzoes seasonal?
Comment by sia — May 17, 2007 @ 2:07 am
Hi Indira, wow paneer with green garbanzo, sounds and looks totally yummy…. cant wait to try this recipe…
Comment by Rachna — May 17, 2007 @ 4:19 am
Hi Indira,
This recipe looks lovely! Another spring pod that I love (along with garbanzos and peas) is fresh fava beans (same thing as broad beans): have you tried them? I think you’d love them. I don’t have a blog so I’ll just tell you here my favourite thing to do with them: Slice some ginger into very fine matchsticks, lightly brown the ginger in peanut oil, then stir in a small amount (to taste) of Chinese soybean paste with chili (the brand I buy is Lan Chi, in a bottle with a red label). If you prefer it less spicy, add less of the soybean paste and a little bit of soy sauce. If you like it spicy a teaspoon of the paste should do, but no soy sauce. When the ginger is quite well browned (otherwise the flavour is a bit obtrusive in this dish), add in about 2-3 cups shelled fava beans [they should be cooked first in boiling water for about 5 minutes, and then the leathery skins should be removed — but the shelling and skinning is such a pleasant task, I rather enjoy it!]. Stir and allow to cook for another 3-5 minutes, then serve hot over your rice of choice (we like this with Thai jasmine rice).
Hope you’ll try it out!
Comment by Preeta — May 17, 2007 @ 4:33 am
Hi Indira, Yours green garbanzo and paneer recipe looks tempting and yummy too. Such wonderful combo for chapatis and rotis. Thanks for sharing.
Comment by Jyothi — May 17, 2007 @ 7:01 am
wow
they look so fresh.
lucky
and sure curry looks
yummmmmmmmmm
Comment by anusharaji — May 17, 2007 @ 7:50 am
I havent seen green garbanzos in a long long time. My amma makes a delicious pickle with it. Love your recipe! Thanks!
Comment by Hema — May 17, 2007 @ 8:05 am
Hi Indira,
Love your website..I’m a very frequent visitor..infact I always decide my dinner menu only after visiting your site..keep up the great work, it’s definitely an inspiration for many of us like me who would like to try to cook something decent 🙂
Have a quick question, do you get this Green Carbanzos in frozen variety..is this same as Hare Channa?
Thanks much,
Uma
Comment by Uma — May 17, 2007 @ 8:23 am
Hi Indira, nice to know about your gardening. I also bought a curry leaf plant from an Indian who has been doing it for 15 yrs. also she he has munagakaya, ive been thinking abt that. I didnt not plant bought a teeny weeny plant and lets see what happens. I havent heard of this combo before. Let me try as it looks yummy.
Comment by Dee — May 17, 2007 @ 8:23 am
Nice combo! How did you grow the taro plant?
Comment by Gini — May 17, 2007 @ 8:51 am
Indira,
Great post and recipe as always. Should see if I get these here. BTW, I tried your sanagaballa koora with spinach and it was wonderful. Thanks for that.
Regards,
Nav
Comment by Nav — May 17, 2007 @ 11:06 am
Indira,
A great recipe as usual!. Indira I have been visiting your blog for quite sometime and I must say that its amazing. You are doing a great job here.
Thanks for providing such wonderful recipes.
Regards,
~Bianca
Comment by Bianca R — May 17, 2007 @ 11:12 am
I got this hara chana inspired by your last hara chana post and shall try this with some Bongness thrown in.
Comment by sandeepa — May 17, 2007 @ 11:19 am
Ooh! Hara chana in pods!! you must have tremendous amount of good food karma to find those Indira 🙂 I have very fond memories of uprooting whole plants of these, setting them alight, and souring the charred plants for roasted chana!! They are called ChhoD daana in Madhya Pradesh. My mother used to add these to kosumbari/koshimbir style salad in the spring…shredding the last of the season’s carrots, and adding the first of the season’s chana, with salt sugar, coconut, lime juice and standard tadka (rai, jeera, hing and mirchi)…ummmmmmmmm…you just took me on such a pleasant trip back in time 🙂
Comment by AA — May 17, 2007 @ 12:29 pm
*correction: thats ‘scouring’ and not ‘souring’ in the previous comment
Comment by AA — May 17, 2007 @ 12:31 pm
Oops, I forgot, Indira, if you do try the fava bean recipe, I garnish with lots of chopped scallions (green part only) at the end — a nice big handful.
Enjoy!
Comment by Preeta — May 17, 2007 @ 12:36 pm
hii indira you’re a good cook and a great photographer..All recipies are tempting,how do you take these perfect pictures..
Thanks..
Comment by lindsy — May 17, 2007 @ 3:03 pm
Forgive me Madhuli. 🙂
One parcel roti is coming Nashik way.:)
Suganya: 105, that is hot.
Revathi, I just transplanted them, they are all droopy and weak right now. Not that photogenic.:) They have to survive the transplant shock, poor things.
Goodluck with okra. I remember that okra makes beautiful flowers.
Hi Sia, yes, they are seasonal. For every few years, fresh, new kind of vegetables are introduced here in US. Fresh green garbanzo are the new “it” things. Few years ago it was fava beans.
Rachna: I look forward to reading your version.
Hi Preeta, I love fresh fava beans and your recipe with them sounds so tempting. How can I not to try?:) I have to remember the brand name – Lan Chi.
Thanks Preeta!
Jyothi, Anusha, Hema: thanks.
Hi Uma: Thanks for your nice words about Mahanandi. I greatly appreciate them.
Yes, they are the hara chana and available in Indian grocery frozen section.
Hi Dee: Curry leaf plant? Munagakaya too? You lucky fellow. 🙂 I wish I can get those here.
They thrive in big containers. Karthi Kannan of Kitchenmate food blog last year blogged about both muganakaya and curryleaf plants. She grew them in containers.
Hi Gini: I planted a taro root in soil few weeks ago. It just started to sprout. It’s like potato/ginger/tulip bulb style. I will post a photo soon.
Hi Nav: Sanagaballa palakura makes a wonderful curry, isn’t it? I am glad to hear that you tried and liked that recipe.
Sandeepa: Bongness? You mean mustard touch? 🙂
I have same experience with garbanzos AA. They are middle of the season crop for us. Usually planted between seasons to fertile the land with that legume bacteria touch. Hot off from the coals, they are a treat, aren’t they? Another recipe I like is Guggullu/sundal style preparation with a light touch of onions, curry leaves, lemon juice etc.
Got it. I saved your recipe to my must-try recipe folder. Thanks again Preeta.
Thanks Lindsy but I am still a beginner both in cooking and photography.
Comment by Indira — May 17, 2007 @ 8:00 pm
Indira this dish is so light and healthy, packed with rich protein.
I long for the day that I can get green and black chick peas.
Comment by Cynthia — May 17, 2007 @ 8:19 pm
yeah, but i bought them Indira , didnt plant them on my own 🙁 and I just paid 5 bucks each. Uma, the person whom I bought from is doing them for the past 15years and the plants are her children. She treats them as her own and I think she is an angel! If I come to seattle , I will surely pass them onto u 🙂
Comment by Deepika Saripalli — May 18, 2007 @ 11:36 am
I saw this and thought, my two favorite dishes chole and mattar paneer rolled into one.
Nice recipe!
Kanchana
Comment by Kanchana — May 20, 2007 @ 10:04 am
looks fantastic! whewe oh whew might i find green garbanzos?????
Comment by aria — May 25, 2007 @ 2:28 pm
Hi Indira,
I keep coming back to this recipe – moth to a flame! I hunted high and low for the green garbanzo beans but no luck! Can I make this with freshly shelled peas?
Hi DG,
I think it would taste great with freshly shelled peas. Don’t forget to adjust spice quantities accordingly, to your liking.
I look forward to your feedback on this fresh pea version, so that I can try as well. 🙂
– Indira
Comment by DG — June 11, 2007 @ 1:31 am
OOh! Fantastic! I shall try it this weekend and give you the feedback! Am sure it will be great! 😀
Comment by DG — June 12, 2007 @ 1:52 am
Sounds like something new to try, and looks delicious. Thanks for sharing.
Simon
Comment by plasterer bristol — May 7, 2015 @ 11:08 am