What to do with an unopened bottle of salsa.. well when you have a perfect blend of sweet, salt and spice - ready in a bottle.. the question rather becomes: what can you not do with it? Here is what I came up with... a new recipe for Channa masala... let us do some justice to the salsa bottle and rename it : The Chana Salsa masala, shall we? ;-)
- Wash 1 can of Chick peas thoroughly and set them aside
- Take just 1 tbsp of chickpeas and grind it into a coarse mixture and set that aside too
- Heat 3tsp of oil in a pan
- Season the oil with mustard seeds, curry leaves, hing, cumin seeds
- Add 1 tbsp of ginger-garlic paste and saute on low flame
- Add 5 green chillies (slit lengthwise and deseeded)
- Add finely chopped red onions (1 medium size)
- Add a pinch of salt and saute the onions till they turn brown
- Add 1/2 cup of Salsa (This is mandatory. ;-) )
- Saute them all till the raw smell vanishes
- Add 1 tsp of red chilly powder, 2 tsp of coriander powder, 1 tsp of paprika powder, 1/2 tsp of cumin powder, a pinch of turmeric powder
- Stir them all well. Sprinkle few drops of water and saute the contents on low flame without burning the spice powders
- Toss chick pea paste and saute for couple more mins
- Now add the whole chick peas to the pan
- Stir well so the masala coats the chick peas
- Add 1.5 cups of water to the pan, taste test & adjust the salt and spices
- Let it simmer for 15 minutes or until desired consistency
- Optional: squeeze few drops of lemon juice (but salsa will have enough sourness.. so it is upto you..
- Serve with Roti/Chapathi