Chana Masala

adapted from Rice of Life's Chana Masala

Serves 4 (main dish servings)
Soaking time: 8 hours+ • Passive cooking time: 20 minutes • Active cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil or ghee
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 small red onion, diced
1 small can tomato paste
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/2 lb dried (or 2 15 oz cans) garbanzo beans
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/2 tsp salt
juice of 1 lemon
a few sprigs cilantro, chopped (for garnish)


Steps:

1. Rinse and sort the garbanzo beans and soak for at least eight hours. When beans have been rehydrated, drain and rinse with cold water.

2. In a large wok or skillet, heat olive oil or ghee at medium high heat. Add turmeric. Add onion and cook until golden brown and fragrant, about five minutes.

3. Add tomato paste, garam masala, ground coriander and cumin. Cook for another five minutes, and stir to form a nice paste.

4. Add garbanzo beans (with about 1/2 cup water). Add coconut milk and stir. Reduce heat to medium low and cook for another ten minutes or so. The beans will be saucey. Remove from heat.

5. Add salt and lemon juice. Serve on plate with basmati rice. Add cilantro as garnish.




Notes: Ameet Maturu of Rice of Life was kind enough to let us share his recipe for Chana Masala with you. We served our Chana Masala with Phul Gobi (bell peppers and cauliflower) and brown rice. This was one of those recipes where I made a mistake and added the whole can of tomato paste instead of 2 TB as the recipe called for. Instead of freaking out about it, I turned it in to a positive by adding some aromatic coconut milk we had on hand from the Gado Gado recipe. It added a bit of depth to the sauce that I was quite happy about.

This recipe also marks the first time I have ever used ghee. I made my first batch of ghee and then used it for the recipe, and let me tell you, it made such a difference! Such a rich and delicious taste! I highly recommend cooking with ghee, especially for Indian recipes.

Historical context: Chana Masala is a North Indian / Pakistani chickpea curry dish. I have seen this described as "comfort food" time and time again, and it is no wonder that this dish remains one of the most popular dishes at Indian restaurants worldwide!