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Chana Masala (Chick Pea Curry)

Serves 6

I love vegetarian meals, and my husband loves meat. This means I have to be extra creative or careful when I do make a fully vegetarian meal so he can enjoy it. I try to include grains and other proteins that he might enjoy. I knew he likes Lobia (Black Eyed Peas Curry) so I tried making a chick pea curry which is famous in restaurants as Chana Masala. The restaurant versions are usually a little darker as they have some other ingredients which I feel can be overpowering. I tried to keep this simple and added a little twist in the flavour by using scotch bonnet peppers rather than green chillies or red chilli powder. It seems like there are a lot of ingredients but in my method, there is not much hands on time required. Oh and there is a surprise ingredient in here that you wouldn’t expect… try it out.

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What you need:

1 ½ large red onion sliced thin
Oil to taste
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp ginger paste
2 cans chick peas washed and drained (I used canned, but you can use regular- just make sure they are boiled and softened)
4 small tomatoes sliced thin
1 tsp garam masala
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 ½ tsps coriander powder
½ tsp turmeric
1 tbsp Shan Karachi Biryani Masala * (this was the secret ingredient that really gave this dish some oomph!)
½ a scotch bonnet pepper diced finely (I used only half as these peppers are from my mom in law’s backyard and are lethal- very different from the peppers you find in the stores… so use as per your discretion)
1 tbsp tamarind paste (optional)
1 cup chopped coriander

How to:

  1. Heat up some oil in a large wide pan and fry the onions till they’re deep golden brown
  2. Add the minced garlic and ginger paste in and fry for a few more minutes
  3. Add everything but the coriander in!
  4. Fry on medium heat for 10 minutes or so
  5. Add water (depends on how much gravy you want) and cover, simmering on low-medium for about 20 minutes 
  6. Check to see if you would like more gravy, and add more water accordingly
  7. Cover again and simmer for low-medium for another 20 minutes or until the oil rises to the surface 
  8. Add in the coriander and mix
  9. Serve hot with some naan (Indian flat bread) or basmati rice 

P.S: Do NOT under cook… I find it was tastier because it was simmering for over 40 minutes.

ENJOY!

"Cooking is like love; it should be entered into with abandon, or not at all"- Harriet Van Horne

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