Kale Chane ka prasad for Navratri is prepared in India on the 8th or 9th day of the pooja – also called ashtmi and navmi. On the last day, nine young girls (symbolic of nine goddesses) are invited from the neighborhood in the morning to have prasad which includes poori ,sabzi, suji ka halwa and kale chane. During my childhood my friends and I used to get invitations from so many neighbors that after the first two houses, the rest of the aunties used to pack our prasad. Along with the prasad a small gift was given which was always the main attraction and we used to make sure not to leave any house unattended 😂😂.
Now, I also do Navratri pooja and invite small girls from the neighborhood for prasad. It is so much fun to feed them and to keep listening to their non-stop chit-chat about their new bangles, who is eating more pooris or which gifts they got from the other aunties. Hot poori and kale chane is always their favorite. Small kids can’t tolerate very spicy food, so I always use a mild level of spice in kala chana and sabzi for this particular day.
Kala chana/black gram/black chickpeas can be prepared for evening snacks as well. If you can tolerate, increase spices like ginger, green chilies, red chilies and chat masala. Serve them with finely cut onions or onions rings along with a dash of lemon juice. Mouth-watering evening snack is ready!
If you don’t want to go through all these spices, then just boil them with salt and keep them in a small quantity near your work station and keep munching them. If you don’t suffer from acidity, then can munch the overnight soaked ones without boiling them.
There is one more post for Kala chana in the blog. If you are interested, you can check that out as well…
Black Chana with Coriander Gravy (no onion-garlic)
If you cook your food without onion garlic, then this recipe of kale chane for navratri prasad is perfect for you!
Ingredients:
Kala chana 1/2 kg ( 500 grams)
Turmeric powder 2 tsp
Small mustard seeds ( rai) 1 tsp
Cumin seeds (jeera) 1+1/2 tsp
Asafoetida (hing) 1/4 tsp
Oil 5 tbsp
Coriander powder 3 tbsp
Red chili powder 2 tsp
Dry mango powder (amchur) 1 tbsp
Garam masala 2 tsp
Salt as per taste
Water as per requirement
Process:
Wash chana nicely and soak them in the water overnight (water should come up 5-6 inches over the chana in the vessel.)
In the morning you will see that chana has bloomed nicely. Reduce 1/4 water, add salt and turmeric powder. Boil chana in the pressure cooker till it turns soft. It is difficult to tell the exact time of boiling as different types of pressure cookers take different time.
While chana is boiling, let’s prepare spices. In a bowl take coriander powder, red chili powder, dry mango powder (amchur) and garam masala. Add 3-4 tbsp water, mix it well and keep aside.
When chana is boiled, let the pressure cool down completely, open the cooker and shift the boiled chana in a different vessel.
Heat oil in a wok and crackle rai, hing and jeera. Add those soaked spices from the bowl along with water.
With a spatula stir this masala and let it cook for 5 minutes on medium heat. Add boiled chana, mix it well with spices and let it cook till the water evaporates. Don’t forget to stir in between to avoid burning chana from the bottom of the vessel.
Kale chane ka prasad for Navratri is ready. Shift it in a serving bowl.
