I’ve wanted to test out Indian food for a while now. I’ve experimented with all sorts of cuisines far away from my comfort zone, but Indian is one thing I reserve for restaurants. Until now, that is. If you were anything like me, it’s time to go spice shopping, because this is a great introduction to Indian cooking!
Chana masala is a Northern Indian chickpea-and-tomato stew with lots of spices and aromatics. I actually had most of the spices already. Cumin? We use it in Middle Eastern cooking all the time. Cayenne pepper? Paprika? Pantry staples. I ground my whole coriander seeds that came with my spice rack. I did have to buy garam masala, and I traded Jessica half of that for half of her turmeric.
Once you stock up on the spices, they last forever a while, and you can cook this up for dinner, without going shopping, in 30 minutes.
If you’re sensitive to heat, reduce the cayenne pepper – I put a lot, since I like spicy foods and I didn’t have the fresh chili pepper that the original recipe called for. I did have some red peppers, so I added that, which was totally unnecessary.
Chana Masala, adapted from smitten kitchen who adapted from Food.com who adapted from a Madhur Jaffrey recipe
serves 2
Ingredients:
- 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 medium onions, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 red pepper, diced
- 1 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 15-ounce can of diced tomatoes with their juices
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Directions:
- Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion, garlic, ginger and pepper and sauté over medium heat until browned, about 5 minutes.
- Turn heat down to medium-low and add the coriander, cumin, cayenne, turmeric, cumin seeds, paprika and garam masala.
- Cook onion mixture with spiced for a minute or two, then add the tomatoes, scraping up any bits that have stuck to the pan.
- Add the water and chickpeas. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.
- Stir in salt and lemon juice.
- Serve over rice.
