Chickpeas (Chana) Sundal

          Sundal, everybody from the southern part of India would be very familiar with it, there are a couple of festivals for which we make different varieties of it, especially during Navarathiri. It's one of the healthy snacks recommended for kids and adults including diabetics, a good source of protein and fiber, and very filling. I made this sundal with chickpeas on Ganesh Chaturthi, used the darker variety which is supposed to have more fiber content than its white counterpart. This is a basic sundal recipe, which goes well with most of the other bean varieties too..

Need To Have

• Chickpeas ( Dark One) - 1 cup
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 15
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Grated Coconut - 1 tablespoon

Method
         Soak the chickpeas overnight or at least for 12 hours and pressure cook it ( same time as for rice). Drain the excess water and keep.

          Heat some oil, add the mustard seeds, once it starts spluttering add the asafoetida and the curry leaves. After a few seconds, add the cooked chickpeas and salt, mix well.

          Lastly add the coconut and give one final mix, remove and serve warm.

Note
The chickpeas should be cooked well, the dark variety of chickpeas takes a little longer to cook compared to the light colored ones, you can use them too.
You can use the drained water in other curries or soups.
You can add a slit green chilli or a dried red chilly (broken into two) along with the asafoetida, before adding the curry leaves for a little spiciness.