Simplified Chana Masala

Chana masala is amazing. It’s a delicious, tangy curry made from chickpeas. I first learned to make it when an Indian co-worker of mine recommended I check out http://www.vahrehvah.com/. The Vah Chef--Sanjay Thumma--is amazingly entertaining and his recipes always turn out great. His chana masala recipe is a little complex, but we found it to be a huge crowd pleaser when we have guests. If you have a few minutes, you should check out his recipe and give it a try. 

We eat this dish so often that I had to adapted it into a much simpler recipe. It uses ingredients we always have on hand, so we can easily throw this together on a weeknight. And even though it’s a lot simpler, we think it still tastes awesome. Even our toddler loves it!

Note: There are two main types of chickpeas in Indian cuisine: chole and chana. Chole is what we call the garbanzo bean. Chana is a smaller bean, which I think makes for a better dish. If you have an Indian store nearby, these are really easy to find and inexpensive. If you don’t, chole masala is still wonderful! The other secret ingredient for chana masala is amchur powder. Amchur is powder made from dried green mangos. It’s extremely sour and adds a wonderful flavor profile to the dish. It’s easy to find at Indian stores and online, but if you don’t have it, try adding more lemon juice. You can also use chana masala seasoning packets to make this, but they aren’t as good and often use a foul smelling seasoning called black salt.

Special Equipment

Nothing! (But a pressure cooker won’t hurt.)

Full Ingredient List

1 cup dry chickpeas

0.25 cups oil

0.5 tsp cumin seeds

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 can petite diced tomatoes

1.5 tsp garam masala

0.5 tsp coriander powder

0.25 tsp cayenne pepper

0.5 tsp amchur powder

0.5 tsp salt

0.5 tsp sugar

1 T lime juice

Instructions

Step 1: Prepare the chickpeas

1 cup dry chickpeas

Soak the chickpeas overnight. Drain, rinse, and cover in water. Pressure cook for 7 minutes or boil for 1 hour. Drain the cooking liquid. (Alternatively, you can use 2 cans of cooked chickpeas. Just rinse them well.)

Step 2: Cook the onion

0.25 cups oil

0.5 tsp cumin seeds

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the cumin and saute until lightly toasted (about 30 seconds). Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the diced onion and garlic. Saute until the onion turns translucent.

Step 3: Finish the dish

1 can petite diced tomatoes

1.5 tsp garam masala

0.5 tsp coriander powder

0.25 tsp cayenne pepper

0.5 tsp amchur powder

0.5 tsp salt

0.5 tsp sugar

1 T lime juice

Add the tomatoes and their juices into the onions. Stir in the remaining ingredients and cover the mixture. Continue cooking until the tomatoes start to break down. Add the chickpeas and then heat until warm. Serve over basmati rice or with hot buttered chapatis.

Dandelion Greens

A long time ago I heard that west-bound pioneers survived because they were able to eat dandelion greens. I don’t remember where I heard the story, and I have no idea if it is true. But I have always wondered what well-cooked dandelions taste like.

As luck would have it, the backyard to our apartment is an urban dandelion farm. I would work harder to get rid of them, but my landlord hasn't been too responsive to my requests for tools. His attitude has also made me confident that the crab grass lawn hasn't been treated with anything in the recent past. So I went and foraged some local, organic, hand-picked dandelion greens from my own back yard.

Before I cooked them, I read online that dandelion greens had more vitamins than Centrum and a “slightly bitter” taste. I didn’t evaluate whether these greens impart Popeye-esque strength, but I will tell you that calling dandelion green’s “slightly bitter” is like suggesting that the titanic was a “slightly large” boat. I sauteed my dandelion greens with onions, garlic, crushed red pepper, olive oil, and apple cider vinegar. Even with all of these relatively strong flavors, the greens were just too potent to enjoy. I had a healthy serving of them, but Jamie decided they were a little intense for her. Maybe I cooked them wrong. Or maybe I should try farmed dandelion greens, which are apparently less bitter. I can’t see myself trying them again soon, but I’d be willing to take the risk if I found a great dandelion green recipe. Let me know if you’ve found a way to enjoy them!