Nepalese Chickpea stew vegan (Chana Ani Kerau)
This authentic Nepali chickpea stew made entirely from scratch (no canned chickpeas) on stovetop is healthy, hearty and packed with flavors. Made with overnight soaked dried chickpeas, tomatoes, onions, garlic, ginger and seasoned with coriander powder, cumin and fenugreek seeds and finished off with cilantro (fresh coriander) in just 1 hour. Makes a perfect meal on a cold day.
Servings: 6 Servings
Ingredients
- 500 g (1.1 lbs) dried chickpeas soaked overnight
- 200 g (7.1 oz) tomatoes
- 15 g (½ oz) fresh ginger root
- 1 medium onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- about 750 ml (3 cups) water or more
- 3 tablespoons sunflower oil or any
- ⅓ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons coriander powder
- Chili to taste
- Fresh coriander (cilantro) for garnish
Instructions
- Soak the chickpeas overnight. Simply put the chickpeas in a bowl and cover with double the amount of water. Drain and rinse the soaked chickpeas. Peel and slice the onion. Next peel garlic and ginger and cut ginger into chunks. Using a mortar and pestle, mash garlic and ginger. If you don’t have one just use a knife to do it. Then rinse the tomatoes and cut them into slices.
- Next, heat oil in a medium pot or large saucepan over medium heat until it begins to shimmer. Add the fenugreek seeds and let them cook for a couple of seconds, until they turn black. Be careful not to burn them, since they burn quickly! Add three quarters of the chopped onions and cook until nicely brown. Add the soaked and drained chickpeas, stir and let cook for about 5 minutes, stir halfway through.
- Add turmeric powder, cumin, chili, salt, coriander powder, the ginger - garlic paste and tomatoes. Mix everything well, cover (without adding water) and simmer for 10 minutes. Keep stirring in between. Stir in half of the water and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat, cover and let simmer for about 30 minutes, until the chickpeas are tender. Keep stirring and adding more water if the chickpeas begin to look dry. I recommend checking the chickpeas after 30 minutes for doneness.
- Garnish with fresh coriander (cilantro) and the remaining finely chopped onions. Serve with sel roti, rice, or just like that.