Boiled Channa, Simple Guyanese Peasant Food

I always preach on Guyanese food being the food of poor people with limited resources. Meat was expensive. Fresh imports were not available. You had dried goods, canned foods, and whatever you could grow locally. There is fish and seafood, but again, either you catch it (effort and time) or you can buy it (again, expensive to use on a regular basis). 

One thing that is overlooked but so typically guyanese is channa, or as the rest of the world knows it, chick peas or garbanzo beans. You go to a prayers and you get channa curry. You go to a rumshop and you may get fried channa. And if you go to a wake, you may get boiled channa. It's easy and relatively cheap and quintessentially Guyanese for all races and religions. You will never find it in a restaurant, you will never have it for Christmas or Easter dinner. It is the most humble of foods.

I remember serving this when my grandparents died. I also remember eating this on a weekend while I was studying at home. I cannot pinpoint it to a specific time and place, but it is a memory of my childhood and part of my comfort now. It is both healthy and filling. As I'm writing this I wonder why I don't eat this on a regular basis? Alistair, your allergies keep me on my toes; sometimes you react to channa, sometimes you don't. If it weren't for your love of pepper, I would wonder how Guyanese you really are! I hope you can eat this as you grow older. It's one of those things that you can whip up anytime. I keep at least six cans of channa in the pantry and stock up as needed, because if I'm in a pinch, I can make something if needed.

Boiled channa is the easiest (and the only one I make) Guyanese preparations of channa. I would eat a bowl on its own. If you were to make channa curry, then you would eat it with roti, but not rice. I don't make these rules, they have evolved over time by Guyanese people who must have figured out the best combinations. 

So through social distancing before I get some free time back with having to cook every single meal at home for every single person every single day, yeah, I will likely make boiled channa before we return to me wanting to actually cook.

IMAGE COMING SOON!

Ingredients:
Channa (chick peas)		1 can or 1 cups dried and rehydrated
Onion		1 medium - large, chopped
Garlic		6 cloves, minced
Cumin		1/4 tsp, ground (optional)
Black Pepper		1 tsp, ground
Sea Salt		1 tsp
Canola Oil		2 tbsp
Water		1/4 cup
Green Onion / Bandanya		chopped to garnish (optional)

Preparation:

1. Re-hydrate the dried channa overnight with water and baking soda. If using tinned channa you need not hydrate. for both, Drain and rinse in a sieve thoroughly until the water runs clear. 
2. In a medium size pot, heat the canola oil on medium heat.
3. Saute the onions and garlic until they are translucent.
4. If you want the bite of the cumin, add it now. it should colour the onions and garlic and become aromatic very quickly. It is important that you cook it through to bring out all it's seasoning power without burning it. Keep an eye on it, because if you walk away it will burn.
5. Add the channa and black pepper and turn the heat up to medium high.
6. Quickly stir well to coat everything. As the heat comes back up to strength you will hear the change in the pot within minutes.
7. Timing is now very important. with the temperature still on medium-high, add the water and sea salt, then stir quickly. 
8. Cover with a lid and reduce the heat to medium low. 
9. Let the channa simmer gently for 15 minutes. Check and stir occasionally to make sure it does not burn and the texture remains creamy. Add a little more water if it seems to get too dry, but not enough where you can see liquid. You don't want it soupy, but you don't want it dry and chalky either.
10. When the channa is soft enough to crush with little pressure it is done. I like to add a maririri pepper to the pot when I add the channa, but you kids aren't ready for that yet, so I just add peppersauce until you guys are all grown up and ready for more heat.
11. Garnish with herbs if you prefer and have any on hand.