I am posting Vinakaya Chavithi/Ganesh Chathurdhi special recipes from the beginning of this week. If you have not checked my Sojjapalu Recipe from yesterday, pls check it right away! 🙂 The next recipe in line is a very popular Vinakaya Chathurdhi recipe – Sundal. The elephant God of India likes varieties of Sundal and today I am posting a very basic Mookadalai/Black Chickpeas/Kala Chana Sundal or Stir-fry. Variety of Kozhukattais are prepared for the festival and Sundal is one of the essentials. The preparation of Sundal is quite simple and the recipe very easy. My MIL prepares the Sundal using the white chickpeas and they are in such a consistency that they melt in your mouth. I prefer using the black chickpeas compared to the white, even though the skin is a little harder.
Usually the chickpeas are soaked in water over night and cooked in a pressure cooker before made into Sundal. I take it a step further and let the chickpeas sprout. I have a particular liking towards sprouted legumes and love the little shoots that come up. I let the chickpeas rest for another 8hrs to sprout and use them for my Sundal recipe. The best part about this dish is that it not only is a festival preparation but can be pretty much easily made on any other day. Especially, works the best as a mid-morning or afternoon snack. Loaded with proteins, it’s quite tasty too. I add two tablespoon of grated coconut as it is offered to God and it enhances the taste multiple times. Even if you are calorie conscious, your body needs the nutrients from coconut and there is no harm in using a few tsps. Apart from that, only ½ teaspoon of oil is used in the making of this dish – totally healthy.
Sprouting the chickpeas is optional but its just healthy to eat sprouted legumes. Leave the soaked chickpeas in a warm place to have them sprouted. The water strained from cooked chickpeas can be used for making your roti dough or as stock in soups. Do not throw away the water. Green chilli adds a hint of spiciness to the Sundal. Its optional though. Coconut adds a good sweet taste to the Sundal and is highly recommended. The chickpeas can be soaked and sprouted, stored in an airtight container for up to a week in the fridge.
