Pumpkin Kala Chana, Bengali Style
20 Sep
A pumpkin kala chana (black chickpea) preparation infused with the Bengali flavors of panch phoron and mustard oil. Dried bay leaves lend a subtle aromatic base to the curry, jaggery brings out the pumpkin’s sweetness, raw mango powder gives it tang.
I’m using the Indian pumpkin in this recipe. You could instead go for other similar squashes: creamy orange flesh compatible with both salt and sweet flavors, such as kabocha or butternut squash.
You Need:
- Pumpkin – 400 grams
- Kala chana (dry black chickpea) – 1/2 cup
- Garam masala powder – 1/4 teaspoon
- Roasted cumin powder – 1/2 teaspoon
- Red chili powder – 1/2 teaspoon
- Amchoor powder (dry mango powder) – 1/2 teaspoon
- Salt – 1/2 teaspoon (adjust to taste)
- Jaggery powder – 1 teaspoon
- Ginger – 1-inch stick
- Green chili – 1
- Dry red chilies – 2
- Panch phoron* – 1 teaspoon
- Bay leaves – 2
- Asafoetida powder – a pinch
- Mustard oil – 1/2 tablespoon
- Coriander leaves for garnishing
*If you don’t have panch phoron on hand, use a mix of these whole spices: fenugreek seed, nigella seed, cumin seed, mustard seed, fennel seed.
How To Make Pumpkin Kala Chana Bengali-Style:
1. Boil the kala chana
Soak kala chana overnight (~7-8 hours) in three cups of water.
Drain and boil the kala chana in salted water till done. [In my Indian-style pressure cooker, I would boil half a cup of kala chana in two cups of salted water on high heat till one whistle, then on low heat for another twenty minutes.]
Strain out the water used for boiling the kala chana. [Don’t throw away this water – use it in curries or for kneading parathas.]
2. Chop and Grate
Peel and cut the pumpkin into 2-cm cubes.
Peel and grate the ginger.
Cut green chili in half.
3. Cook it all together
Heat mustard oil in a thick-bottomed pan.
When the oil is hot, add the tadka ingredients: panch phoron, asafoetida, bay leaf, green chili and dry red chilies.
As soon as the tadka is done (quick check: the fenugreek seeds in the panch phoron should have turned a shade darker), follow with pumpkin cubes.
Mix well.
Cover and cook on medium heat till the pumpkin is about 3/4th done (10-12 minutes), stirring once or twice in between.
Now add grated ginger, salt, red chili powder, roasted cumin powder.
Cook for another two minutes with lid on. Add the boiled kala chana next, along with jaggery, amchoor powder and garam masala powder.
Mix well. Cook till the pumpkin is fully done.
Pumpkin kala chana is ready. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.
Serve pumpkin kala chana with chapatis, ghee, dal and plain yogurt.
Notes:
Try other Indian pumpkin recipes: pumpkin bharta, pumpkin adzuki bean curry, pumpkin mangodi.
I made this the other day, a couple of notes:
1. If not using a pressure cooker, the chickpeas will take about 60-90 minutes to cook on the stove, AFTER soaking. I soaked mine for 6 hours, then cooked for 75 minutes, and they still were pretty tough, “al dente” style. Next time I’ll be sure to soak for at least 8 hours and cook for a full 90 minutes.
2. For the red chili powder, I just used Cayenne pepper. It was quite spicy, might cut this in half next time. Not sure if there’s anything else more authentic you’d recommend? I do have access to an Indian specialty store nearby, they had all the spices listed here that you couldn’t get in a US supermaket, and the black chickpeas.
Thank you for sharing your notes. I have never cooked chickpeas without a pressure cooker, so the details of process and timing are especially helpful.
Cayenne is close enough to Indian red chili powder. Do reduce the quantity if this is too spicy for you. For milder heat, I would go for smoked red paprika powder.
Great to know you have access to all the spices. These days I have been dropping in a bay leaf to the water while boiling white rice. It adds a lovely aroma to the rice.
So simple to make yet so tasty!! Everyone in my family loved it. I used only nigella seeds for the tempering because I didn’t have panchphoran. Also used red chilli flakes to make up for the lack of red chillies. But in my opinion, the real magic was brought in by adding garam masala, aamchur and jaggery in the end. What a delightful combination of tastes! Thanks a lot for the recipe!
@A: Thrilled to receive your warm and positive feedback! So glad your family loved the recipe!