Happy Ganesh Chaturthi friends. Channa sundal (Mookadalai in tamil) has to be one of the simplest festival recipes and a very basic one that is made for most festivals. This year I made vella kozhukattai, ven pongal, savory kozhukattais and this sundal over the weekend itself and the festival day is going to be very simple.

The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of this sundal is the kuzkambu that my grandma makes with the leftover garbanzo after “Saraswathi Pooja”. Those were the days with no refrigerators and the leftovers got used up in one way or the other. More than the sundal, the kuzhambu is my favorite since the garbanzo soaks up the tamarind juice and tastes more yummy.

Although I make this sundal very rarely, I use garbanzo in a lot of items and I always have cooked garbanzo in the freezer to toss in salads, upma or rice. Off to the simple recipe.

Channa (Garbanzo) Sundal

By Vardhini, September 18, 2012

Light salad made by tossing garbanzo with coconut, chillies and curry leaves.

• Total Time: 08h 30min
• Prep Time: 08h 00min
• Cook time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 2.5 cups

Ingredients:

• garbanzo - 1 cup - dry channa - soaked overnight - refer to notes
• salt - to taste
• oil - 1 tsp
• mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
• red chillies - 3
• asafoetida - a pinch
• curry leaves - a few
• coconut - 1.5 tbsp

Instructions:

Soak the dry channa (garbanzo) for around 8 hours. Wash and take in a vessel. Add salt and cook in the pressure cooker. I cook for about 15 minutes after I hear the first whistle. Once cooked, keep aside.

Heat oil and splutter mustard seeds. Add asafoetida, curry leaves,  red chillies and coconut. Saute for a few seconds.

Add the cooked garbanzo and toss it all together.

My Notes

1. If using canned garbanzo, proceed to step 4 and add the canned garbanzo to the seasonings.

Pictorial

Tasty sundal ready and I also made ven pongal to go with it.

Enjoy!

Linking to CWS  hosted by Foodomania.