White Chana with Ragu

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 Post # 9
 
Posted by: Nitika

I should thank my friend Anita here. She introduced me to Ragu sauce (specifically, the Traditional sauce with Chunky Tomatoes, Onions & Garlic) and I use it in all things that need a gravy base, so much so that my husband asks me to make 'chana w/ ragu' or 'rajma w/ ragu' etc., and if he doesn't like a particular curry someday, the first question he asks is, "Did you not add ragu to this?"

In this recipe, the one thing that makes it different from your mom's chana is the addition of jaggery in the end. It just takes one magic ingredient to make a world of difference in taste in a dish and I have found it to be gur in this recipe. Anyway, the recipe is as follows.

Ingredients:
Ragu sauce (traditional-tomato-onion-and-

garlic-smooth-pasta-sauce) - 1 cup or more as you like
Onion - 1 big red onion
tomato -1/2 (optional)
green chillies - 3 long ones or several short ones
cilantro flakes - 2 tsp
basil - 1 tsp
chana masala - 2 tsp
garam masala - 1 tsp
jaggery (gur) - 1 inch by 1 inch by 1 inch cube
Garbanzos or white chana - 2 cans
mustard seeds - 1 tbsp
jeera - 1 tbsp
oil - according to your choice
cilantro - generous
salt - taste
red chili - taste
turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Paneer - if you want - half a cup

Method:
In a large pan, add oil, mustard seeds, jeera and let the mustard seeds pop. Add turmeric, salt and onion and saute. Add the Ragu sauce and cook for 5 - 10 minutes. Then add chana and tomato and let cook covered for 10 minutes. Add all other masalas and jaggery. Cook for another 10 minutes. You may add water if you dont want dry chana. Add paneer in the end and let simmer for sometime. Remember if you let it cook at medium heat for 20-30 minutes (total cooking time), the chana will get soft to eat and brownish in color and all the masalas get absorbed.

Add generous amounts of dhaniya in the end and serve.