There are two types of Chana, Desi and Kabuli. Desi Chana is the one with the dark coloured seed coat, whereas, Kabuli is the one with the lighter coloured seed coat. Desi Chana is the preferred one for making Besan.
Our black Gram was planted in a different plot from the Kabuli Chana. The separation also ensured that both did not inter-mingle and create a mixed race (sounds racist). So we got black chana and started passing the seeds through various sized sieves. The intention was that we would separate the broken seeds from the full seeds. Once some amount of separation was achieved, the whole seeds were put through an attrition type hand mill (chakki). By the way, this is my Mother’s favourite.
A Chakki is basically two heavy round pieces of stone placed one on top of the other. The base remains stable while the top stone is turned around with the help of a handle. The two stones are kept in place by an axle. The whole grain that is fed in through the inserting hole, comes in between both the stones of the chakki. The insides of both the stones are serrated and uneven. This roughness causes traction and when the upper stone is turned, the chana is split with the seed coat shattering. This process is called de-hulling. These smaller crushed pieces are expelled by the centrifugal force of the chakki’s turning.
Once the chana is split, the seed coat needs to be removed. Once again, we use the traditional sook to blow away the husk and retain the seed. Must say, it is an extremely skill full task and very few people are able to do it. These girls from Jhakhand are simply super at this. She works so efficiently and it’s sheer joy to see her at it. The seeds are again passed through various sieves because some seeds might not have been de-hulled. They are put back in the chakki and the process is repeated. The last step in in this process is eye-balling the split dal and removing any course material. And we have Chana Dal!
The Chana Dal can npw be used as Chana Dal or we put it into our flour mill to make Besan. I used a size 3 sieve in the flour mill to get slighted more course Besan. I milled the Besan at about 7 in the evening and then we had Chilas for Dinner. The flavour of freshly ground Besan is incomparable. It’s like my dear friend saying that no coffee tastes better than his freshly roasted and ground coffee.
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