Uppu Chanagalu / Karam Chanagalu / Salty, Spicy fried Whole Lentils

My Mom calls them Karam chanagalu, my husband calls them Uppu chanagalu. Whichever way you decide to call them, they taste yummy and nice time pass stuff, if you want your mouth getting some exercise while you are doing nothing!!...and its healthy too with only couple of drops of oil.
You can also call it a street food in Hyderabad or in Andhra. In some places like near some big parks, roadsides, shopping malls, you will find some bandiwallas selling these. They will roll them up in paper cone and serve them hot or cold. Well what are these?..they are nothing but small black or brown channa. I just came to know that channa daal comes out of these. So these are whole channa daal.
It doesn't take much time to make, and there is no pre-soaking. You can use the channa right out of the bag. It has to be sauteed on low heat so as to they cook properly and not burn.
Adjust the spice level accordingly (taste and see if you don't think its enough add a little more)

Ingredients:

1 cup small black channa

1/2 tsp grated ginger
2-3 green chillies (optional...you can use 1 tsp of chilli powder instead, like we did here)
couple of drops of oil
salt to taste
lemon juice to taste
pinch of turmeric
2-3 tbsp of water

Method:

Grind ginger and green chillies together. But if using chilli powder, in couple of tbsp of water, add ginger, chilli powder, turmeric, salt and lemon juice, mix to a paste. Taste to see, if it suits your taste. Remember, it won't be as spicy when you add it to the channa, so if you want it more spicy, mix more of this paste.
Dry saute on low heat the channa in a pan for like 5-10 min. When you taste one, you can know that it is cooked, they come slightly soft.
Now add a couple of drops of oil and the chilli-ginger paste. Mix well.

Keep sauteing on low heat till it becomes dry. Store in a air tight container. Will keep good for couple of weeks.
Serve warm or cold. Enjoy!!!