Smoked Black Chickpea Chaat (Dhungar Wali Kale Chane Ki Chaat)

A mouth-watering sweet and tangy chaat overloaded with nutrition and is prepared with cooked black chickpeas, olive oil, pomegranate pearls, crunchy peanuts, onion, tomatoes, green chillies, raw mango, , fresh cilantro and powdered masalas, drizzled with lemon juice and given a Dhungar with live coal, desi ghee with cumin seeds which further imparts a smoky flavor.

 

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Soaking Time for Chana: Overnight / 08 hours

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients and Quantity:

Black Chana, soaked overnight -1 ½  cup

Water- 04 cups

Salt- 1/4^th tsp.

Extra Virgin Olive oil- 1 ½ tbsp.

Pomegranate Pearls- ½ cup

Peanuts without skin, roasted- 01 tbsp.

Onions chopped- 01 large

Tomatoes pulp removed, chopped- 01 large

Green chillies, finely chopped – 02 nos.

Raw mango, chopped- ½ tbsp.

Fresh Cilantro, finely chopped -02 tbsp.

Black salt -to taste

Freshly ground cumin powder – 01 tsp.

Chaat masala -1/2 tsp. tsp.

Dry mango powder- ½ tsp.

Red chilli powder 1/2 tsp

Lemon juice – 02 tbsp.

For the Dhungar:

Small bowl-01 no

Live coal- 02 small

Clarified butter (Desi ghee)- 01 tsp.

Cumin seeds- ½ tsp.

For the garnishing:

Cilantro, finely chopped -01 tbsp.

Method:

Wash and pressure cook soaked black chana in 04 cups of water and 1/4^th tsp of salt for seven to eight whistles or till done. Transfer them into a non-stick kadai and simmer till all the water evaporates add olive oil and sauté for a minute.

In a large salad bowl add the cooked hot chana. Let it cool. Add pomegranate pearls, peanuts, chopped onions, tomatoes, green chillies, chopped raw mango, , chopped cilantro, black salt, roasted cumin powder, chaat masala, dry mango powder. red chilli powder and lemon juice and mix well.

Place the small bowl on the prepared chana. In that place the live coal. Add the cumin seeds and desi ghee. Once it starts smoking cover the salad bowl with a tight fitting lid, so that smoke does not escape.

Serve the chaat immediately garnished with chopped cilantro.

Chef Tips:

1.    You may add chopped cucumber, boiled and cubed potatoes.

2.      You may make the same chaat with Green chana, when in season.

3.    ”Dhungar”
Dhungar (Smoked / Smoking) is a technique of imparting a smoky flavour to a dish, when a particular dish has finished cooking, a live coal is taken and pure ghee is poured on it, when it starts to smoke this is put in the pot, the smoke from the coal must be trapped in the pot by tightly closing the lid. The smoke thus trapped for about 25 to 30 minutes, permeates the cooked food / beverage. But you may decrease the smoking time for salads / chats to 5 minutes.
Occasionally the Dhungar flavour is enhanced by first sprinkling spices on the live coal such as Cumin Seeds, Cloves or Cardamom -Green or Black on the live coal and then adding pure ghee and covering it. The spices / flavorings used while giving dhungar varies according to the recipe.