Chana Masala (Chickpea Curry)

Chana Dahl Masala is probably one of my favorite Indian dishes.  Well, it's hard to say because I there are so many vegan Indian dishes that I love.  But this is one I frequently make.  It might look a little complicated, but once you've made it a few times it will seem very simple.  The trick here is to make sure that you have fresh spices.

I serve this with brown or white (brown is better for you)  Basmati rice, which is something I really love.  There is nothing quite like the smell of Basmati rice when it's being cooked in a rice maker.




Ingredients:

1. 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (or less for lower fat)
2. 1 can (14.5 oz) of chickpeas, drained and rinsed thoroughly, or a half cup of dried chickpeas soaked in water overnight, then cooked in pot with 3 cups water until soft (about ½ to ¾ hours of cooking—no need to do this with canned chickpeas).
3. 1 medium onion, diced
4. 3 to 4 cloves garlic with a ½ inch piece of fresh ginger, mashed together (chopped finally or put into a food processor and made into a paste—it’s good to actually make a lot of this to use in curry preparation, so use lots of ginger and lots of garlic 1:1 ratio in a food processor)
5. 1 can (15 oz) or crushed tomatoes or two tomatoes skinned1 and crushed in a food mill or by hand with a fork in a bowl
6. ½ teaspoon black mustard seeds
7. ¾ teaspoon whole cumin seeds
8. 1 to 2 tablespoons good Madras curry powder
9. ½ tablespoon chili powder (optional)
10. Fresh cilantro, chopped.
11. Salt to taste
12. Extra water

Cooking:

Heat pan over medium-high heat.

Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds and wait until they begin to pop, which takes a few seconds--but make sure you're pan is hot.  As soon as the seeds start to pop, throw in onions and the garlic/ginger paste that you made, and fry until onions sweat and turn soft--do not cook the onions to the point where they begin to caramelize (turn brown).

Add the madras curry powder and optional chili powder until onions are covered and mix becomes fragrant (20 to 30 seconds of stirring).  Then add crushed tomatoes and a little water and stir well, making a nice gravy.

Keep stirring for a few minutes, cover and let simmer for ten minutes (add only a little water if it gets too dry looking).

Add the chickpeas, a little more water if necessary, and cover again lowering the heat.  Allow to simmer about 15 minutes.

Remove from heat, toss in chopped cilantro and serve over rice and with warm pita bread or even better,  Indian Nan.

Tips:

• If you have a pan screen put that over it or face the pan slightly up and away from you.