Chana Masala

Many of you have asked me if we picked up any Indian recipes while living in Chandigarh.  Unfortunately, the answer is basically no.  What we did pick up, however, was a bit of an understanding of the flavor combinations that make up many Indian recipes.  In Punjab, you can often find a few basic spices in almost every dish-- coriander, ginger, garlic, cardamom, turmeric, and cumin-- some combination of these, along with basic red and green chiles, and sometimes garam masala (a very common spice mixture) was the base mixture for pretty much every single thing that was cooked [for us] in our house.
The ginger and garlic were never crushed or ground, they were always chopped very roughly and crudely and we were always biting down on huge chunks during dinner.  I can't say this is something we really preferred-- but it is interesting to note that this is how it was done in India by our Indian cook, who Violet called "Big Vijay" (opposed to "Little Vijay" who was a 10-year old boy living next door; the son of "the help").  Anyway, this is notable because I think it is common to feel as though Indian food has to be very time consuming to make; there is this notion that the spices have to be of very high quality and used whole, or ground by hand and pressed very carefully and perfectly in order for anything to turn out authentically "Indian".  Our cook had a tin filled with little tins, each tin containing a different ground spice.  There wasn't any of this hand-grinding on a flint stone (except, as I mentioned the garlic and ginger which were hacked to pieces with a dull knife on the countertop)--  but everything else was all pre-ground, and he just dumped a bit of this and that in when it was time.  The spices were bought at the spice market in bulk out of a huge cart (no little glass jars in the grocery store), and used liberally in everything.
Another note on spices:  In every Indian recipe I have made, you always cook the spices in the pan before adding the main vegetable, meat, lentils, whatever.  This seems to be pretty important.  It really helps the spices spread their oils around, and keeps them from being raw and grainy in your food later.  This is different from a lot of western cooking where you generally add the spices after you have browned the meat or boiled your soup.  Maybe it's because these spices are used so liberally, and are so strong?  I don't know-- it's just what you do.
Also, another good tip that I've picked up is to REALLY cook the CRAP out of the onion in the beginning.  None of this "until translucent" business.  Cook them slowly on medium-low heat, in tons of oil, and cook them for a really really long time until they are brown and caramelized.  This adds a real richness to the dish that you just don't want to miss out on.    

Anyway, the recipe below is one that I recently found on another blog that I follow from time to time, "The Painted Peach".  I was attracted to it because it uses very basic ingredients, and seemed like it would be similar to much of the food we actually ate in India (the only ingredients in it, besides the spices are chickpeas, tomatoes, and onion).  I made it the other night, and everyone ate it and liked it-- including Violet!  It is a fairly easy, non-fancy recipe that has many of the spices mentioned above (except, the heat I think is very dumbed down for Americans-- as are most Indian recipes you will find here).  I made this recipe without any heat at all; I even excluded the small amount of cayenne it actually does call for, just to make sure that Violet could handle it, and it was still very good.  I do recommend reading through and combining all the spices in a little bowl before hand, just so that it is easy to dump them in all at once.  You might want to serve it as a side along with some chicken or fish or whatever... but honestly, if we were still living in India, this would be the extent of our dinner, besides maybe a little Dal, and that would be it for the day.  
Please enjoy!  :)      

Chana (Chickpeas) Masala 

olive oil (at least 1/4 cup)
1 medium onion, chopped
3-4 medium cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp garam masala
4 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
1 28-ounce can diced or whole peeled tomatoes
1 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
1 tbs cilantro leaves, roughly torn, plus more for garnish (I omitted this because I can't stand cilantro)
A pinch of cayenne, or to taste
2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
6-8 tbs plain yogurt, (I used THICK Greek Yogurt, and it was wonderful!) 


Coat the bottom of a saute pan or dutch oven with olive oil. Heat to medium. Add the onions and sautee slowly until they start to carmelize. Stir occassionally, but leave them alone from time to time to really set. This will take 25-30 minutes, maybe more. You're looking for a dark caramel color. The onions should even be charred in some spots. This is what will develop the flavor, so have patience and courage to let them do their thing in the pan!

Once the onions are caramelized, reduce the heat to low and add the garlic. If the pan is a bit dry, add a bit more olive oil. Sautee for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the spices (cumin through cardamom seeds) and fry in the pan, stirring constantly for another 30 seconds. Add 1/4 cup of water to deglaze the pan and loosen any of the browning and flavor from the bottom. Sautee until the water has evaporated. Add the tomatoes, with their juice.  If the tomatoes are whole, crush with a fork in the pan.

Increase the heat to medium, and let the pot come to a boil. Once it begins to boil, reduce heat to low, add the cilantro and cayenne to taste (or skip this step if you have a toddler and/or a cilantro hater in the house). Simmer the sauce gently, stirring occasionally until it starts to reduce and thicken. Taste, and adjust the seasoning to your preference. Add the chickpeas, stirring well and cook for low for another 5 minutes. Add 2 tbsp of water and cook another 5 minutes. Repeat once more, making sure the water is absorbed. This helps to concentrate the flavor and make the chickpeas more tender. Taste again for seasoning.
Turn off the heat. Stir in the cilantro and yogurt. Serve over rice.