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Chana Ros or Chanya Ros (Dry White Peas Goan Curry) with Omelette and Pav

Vidya Narayan

Chana Ros or Chanya Ros (Dry White Peas Curry), Omlette and Pav

(Vegetarian Breakfast Platter from Goan Cuisine)

What comes to your mind when you think of Goa? Beach heaven? Nightlife? Flee Markets at Anjuna Beach? Well, for foodies like me and most of you probably, Goa also means great food and drinks. While I don’t drink, I have to simply make do with all the good food available. Now before you ask me, What and Why is a vegetarian so excited about Goan Cuisine which is predominantly about sea food and in general non-vegetarian food? Well, being a vegetarian doesn’t restrict me to try dishes by tweaking them according to vegetarian taste buds, replacing ingredients to our taste and preferences etc. After all, a foodie shouldn’t be restricted to only cooking dishes from the vegetarian section strictly. Honestly speaking, while researching on the Goan cuisine, I have found a treasure trove of vegetarian recipes, so don’t be surprised if you find many of them featuring on the blog in times ahead.

Let me share a little knowledge with you all from what I read about Goan cuisine or Goans in general from Wikipedia, before planning few dishes and knowing about certain ingredients that I wanted to play with while coming up with the dish.

Firstly, Goans are divided  into Hindus, Catholics and few Muslim communities. The Hindus are further divided into Nayaks, Borkars, Kamat, Bhat, Naik etc. On the other hand, the Catholic Community draws its influence from the Portuguese who arrived in Goa some 400 years ago. The Hindu Community in Goa is composed of Saraswat Bhramins, Daivadnya Brahmins and other communities like Karhades, Chitpavans, Kunbis, Gudas etc which are smaller communities. The language spoken is Konkani and it has a huge influence from our very own Marathi language spoken in Maharashtra, in fact many similar words too. Goa situated on the Konkan coastline in the Western part of Indian and hence the food influences are very similar to what we find in the Malwani or Konkani cuisine. Rice and Coconut being staples or the main ingredient. These are ingredients that are staple to the South Indian Cuisine as well with the only exception being, the souring agent in Goan cuisine is mostly from Kokam while the South relies heavily on tamarind for its sour gravies. Also, I find the use of yoghurt / curd is very less in the Goan cuisine. 

I eyed upon this dish when we visited Goa couple of years ago for a one week holiday. Our very close friend, more like Kaka (uncle) to us, when saw our post / check-in on Facebook, recommended us to have this for breakfast. Since we are vegetarians, we had to skip the Ros Omlette but had the lovely chana bhaji with the fluffy pav and loved it immensely. They also served a delicious Batata Bhaji i.e. Potato Sabzi along with it too. Sadly, I didn’t make this dish after coming back to Mumbai ever!

So, when the Facebook Group Shhhhh Cooking Secretly Challenge announced Goa as the cuisine for the month, I knew at the very moment that this was my chance at redemption. With two secret ingredients by my partner, Poornima Porchelvan who blogs at http://www.poornimacookbook.com gave me my two secret ingredients i.e. Coconut and Black Pepper, I knew making this nutritious meal would be an easy task. Poornima, who is a dietician by qualification has been blogging since quite some time now and has a wonderful range of recipes, both veg and non-veg in her repertoire.

I don’t claim the Chana Ros being an authentic recipe and have made it solely on the basis of what I tasted back then. Its very similar to Vatana Usal from the Maharashtrian cuisine but doesn’t have Goda Masala and instead uses freshly ground masala with coconut as part of the gravy mixture instead of the usual onion tomato mixture.

Ros Omlette is the quickest breakfast that is every non-vegetarians delight at Goa. It is made in the beaches of Goa in small shacks or shops that are situated near the beach as well as restaurants that serve this as part of their breakfast menu along with the usuals like sheera, upma, pohe etc. It is basically fluffy omlettes made with eggs and then cooked in a ros (gravy) made with xacuti masala.

For the Vegetarians, there is Chana Ros which is made with green peas or white peas and sometimes diced potatoes are added too in the gravy which is served with pavs or pao. I didn’t want the omelette element to be subtracted from the platter, hence went ahead and included a vegetarian version by using chickpea flour and tomatoes. More like Tomato Omlette. You can either stuff the omelette in the pav and then dip it in the Chana Ros (gravy) or eat the gravy with the omelette with bites of pav every now and then. Choice is yours!

Narayan was extremely happy with the breakfast platter. The man loves a lavish breakfast, by the way and loves it when there are 2-3 elements on the table, unlike me.

I have been travelling a lot since past couple of months and honestly didn’t think I could do this post / dish with a considerable less time. I am really glad I did it and it certainly brought back a lot of memories of our Goa trip for the both of us at the breakfast table!

Read the recipe below and make yourself this lavish breakfast, more like a brunch the coming weekend!

Ingredients for making the Chana Ros / Chanya Ros (Dry White Peas Goan Curry) 

  1. Dry White Peas / Safed Vatana – 1 cup
  2. Coconut – 6 to 7 tblsps
  3. Black Pepper – 5 to 6 nos.
  4. Cinnamon – a tiny stick
  5. Cloves – 2 to 3 nos.
  6. Whole Red chillies – 3 or 4 nos.
  7. Onions – 1 medium, finely chopped
  8. Cardamom – 2 pods
  9. Jeera or Cumin Seeds – 2 tsps
  10. Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp
  11. Coriander leaves – few for garnish
  12. Coconut oil – 1 tblsp
  13. Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
  14. Tamarind – 1 tsp
  15. Salt as per taste
  16. Water – 1 cup to cook the peas + ½ cup to adjust the consistency of the gravy

Method for making the Chanya Ros

  1. Soak the white peas overnight or atleast for 5 hours and then pressure cook them for atleast 3-4 whistles. Ensure the peas doesnt overcook. There should be a bite.
  2. Heat a kadhai or a non-stick pan, add 1 tsp of oil, then add the cloves, whole red chillies, Jeera (1 tsp), cinnamon stick, cardamom pod, black peppercorns, and saute it for a few seconds until it starts giving out an aroma.
  3. Now add the onions and saute well for few seconds. Let the onions saute until slightly brown in colour.
  4. Then add the freshly grated coconut and saute until it turns slightly brown too (roasted).
  5. Empty the contents of the pan (the roasted ingredients – Step to 4 above) in a jar for grinding in a mixer grinder with few tblsps of water and tamarind into a gravy paste.
  6. Keep the gravy paste aside and prepare making the chanya ros.
  7. Heat the kadhai or non-stick pan and add some oil. Once it heats, add the balance cumin seeds, mustard seeds and let it roast / crackle, then add the cooked white peas.
  8. Add some salt to taste, turmeric powder and stir the mixture well.
  9. Allow it to come to a boil and then add the gravy mixture. Add some water and adjust the thickness.
  10. Remember, it should be slightly watery in texture and not thick like your regular pulses sabzi as its more of Ros that needs to be dipped into while having pav.
  11. Simmer it on low flame for atleast 5 to 7 mins and then switch off the flame.
  12. Serve it hot with Omelette and Pav.

Ingredients for making the Tomato Omlette

  1. Gram Flour or Besan – 1 cup
  2. Rice Flour – 1 tblsp
  3. Puree of 1 tomato + 1 chopped tomatoe
  4. Onion – 1 medium sized finely chopped
  5. Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
  6. Red chilli powder – ½ tsp
  7. Hing – ¼ tsp
  8. Ajwain or Carrom seeds – ¼ tsp
  9. Finely chopped green chillies – 1 tblsp
  10. Minced ginger – 1 tsp
  11. Chopped coriander leaves – 2 tblsp
  12. Salt as per taste
  13. Water – 1 cup to prepare a batter.
  14. Oil – few tblps as required to cook the omlette

Method for making the Tomato Omlette

  1. In a bowl, add the gram flour, rice flour, tomato puree, chopped pieces of tomatoes, finely chopped – onions, coriander leaves, green chillies.
  2. Add ajwain or carrom seeds, minced ginger, salt as per taste along with turmeric and red chilli powder.
  3. Mix everything well before adding water as required to aquire a smooth batter consistency. Very similar to dosa batter.
  4. Heat a tawa or griddle. Add a drop of oil on the tava and season it well by using a kitchen paper towel or half a potato or onion. Seasoning helps in acquiring a non-sticky dosa / omlette always.
  5. Now pour the batter with the help of the ladle and drizzle some oil on the sides and allow it to cook on both sides before serving hot along with the Pav and Ros.

Recipe for the Homemade Eggless Pav Buns is on the blog. Click on the link and make a batch at home.

Recipe Notes –

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Vidya Narayan

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