If you have experience with cooking kabuli chana, you will know that many times, the skin of the chana peels off during cooking. Not only is that bad for the presentation, but it may also affect the taste of the curry. I face this problem every time I cook kabuli chana in a pressure cooker. But recently, I saw a kabuli chana recipe video from Pakistan (I think it was kabuli chana with black pepper), in which they had shared a solution to the problem. Here it is:
Cooking Kabuli Chana With The Skin Intact
The trick shared in the recipe video was, adding baking soda and salt while soaking the chana, and again, adding a little baking soda while cooking as well.
The recipe mentioned using half a teaspoon of salt and another half a teaspoon of baking soda to 500 grams of chana while soaking. Now, if you are soaking 250 grams of dry kabuli chana, use quarter teaspoons of both salt and baking soda.
Whatever magic baking soda and salt do during the soaking phase, it works. You just have to be careful about a couple of things.
First, when soaking, use exact amounts of salt and baking soda as suggested above. And before you start cooking chana after soaking, drain all the water in which chana was soaked, and rinse a few times in fresh water. Do not cook with the water in which chana was soaked.
Second, while cooking, if you are using a pressure cooker, add only a pinch of baking soda. And if you are cooking chana in an open pan, use a maximum of a quarter teaspoon of baking soda for 500 grams of chana.
A little bit of trial and error will help you decide how much baking soda to use and how long to cook for a perfect result.
Kabuli chana soaked and cooked this way not only keeps the skin from peeling, it even improves the taste of the curry.
Try the trick and share your feedback. Thank you for reading.