Chana Masala

(Picture from Smitten Kitchen.)

I found this recipe at Smitten Kitchen. It was originally adapted at Food.com from a Madhur Jaffrey cookbook.

Ingredients: 

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 medium onions, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
• 1 fresh, hot green chili pepper, minced
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (I used a quarter of this because my cayenne is extremely hot)
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground
• 1 tablespoon amchoor powder (see note)
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 2 cups tomatoes, chopped small or 1 15-ounce can of whole tomatoes with their juices, chopped small
• 2/3 cup water
• 4 cups cooked chickpeas or 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 lemon (juiced) (see note; I used a whole lemon to swap for the amchoor powder)

Note on amchoor powder--a sour flavor, so I upped the lemon juice instead.

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, amchoor (if using it), paprika and garam masala. Cook onion mixture with spiced for a minute or two, then add the tomatoes and any accumulated juices, scraping up any bits that have stuck to the pan. Add the water and chickpeas. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, then stir in salt and lemon juice.

Eat up or put a lid on it and reheat it when needed. Curries such as this reheat very well, later or or in the days that follow, should it last that long.

Notes about this recipe:

1.I halved the recipe and it was perfect for me, my hubby, and my toddler.
2. I followed the advice to use lemon juice instead of amchoor powder.
3. I omitted the paprika and the cumin seeds.
4. I used a can of diced tomatoes and just drained the juice into a measuring cup so I could chop the tomatoes up really small.