Chana Masala (Indian Chickpeas)

During my senior year of college, I lived off-campus with a friend. Sarah and I liked to make obscenely large pots of food that we would eat every meal for a month.  We were obsessed with Indian food, so chana masala was one recipe we'd blow up to make 100 servings. Is that even an exaggeration? I'm not sure. We ate this for weeks.  The recipe required SIX onions minced.  You can only imagine the pain and tears that resulted from our dull, cheap knives cutting/mashing our onions.

 One of our Indian friends said that our chana masala was really good and authentic. Does that get you excited to read the recipe? Well, we lost that recipe. Sorry.  But, as far as I remember, this is very similar! I made this a few days ago, but a much more reasonably-sized batch.  Only 4 cups of chickpeas and 2 onions, rather than 6 onions.

In a large pan, start off by sauteing

• 2 minced onions
• 3 minced cloves of garlic

in a tablespoon of oil over medium heat for a few minutes (3-5).  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Next, gather into a bowl:

• 1 T freshly ground coriander
• 2 t freshly ground cumin
• 1/2 t ground cayenne pepper
• 1 t turmeric

and then dump all of them into the pan at the same time.  Stir for a few seconds, then pour over

• 1 can diced tomatoes

Stir, reduce heat, and let the tomatoes simmer for five or ten minutes.  Next, stir in

• 4 cups chickpeas (pre-cooked, if they were dried. otherwise, rinsed if they were canned)
• 1 tablespoon amchoor powder (or sub in lemon/lime juice or tamarind paste)
• 2 t paprika
• 1 t garam masala
• 1/2 t salt (if you started with dried beans, you will need much more salt!)

Let them simmer for ten minutes, stirring occasionally.  When you are about ready to eat, top it off with

• 2 t freshly grated ginger 

Salt to taste, then serve with rice.

Some notes:

1. This is actually very easy if you already have the ingredients. Otherwise, you will have to make a run to the store, which is a hassle.
2. I used chickpeas that were originally dried, so I had to add quite a bit of salt to let the flavors of the spices come out.  I added probably 2 teaspoons, but it's hard to tell because I alternated between adding some salt and then tasting.  This is what you should do so you don't accidentally make yours too salty (or not salty enough).
3. Fresh ginger is infinitely more delicious than ground ginger.  I used to buy the fresh ginger root and then would realize "GAH it's too old!" Here's what I do now: I buy the fresh ginger root, bring it home, wash it, peel it, place it in a freezer bag, and freeze it.  When I need it, I use my grater to grate the amount required. So easy, and it's so wonderful to have the bold ginger flavor whenever I want it!
4. This is ridiculously healthy. I can't see ANYTHING bad in it at all. There is a tablespoon of oil, which is negligible because is spread over like 10 servings of food.  There is salt, which is demonized, but is not bad in moderation. Eating at home: moderation. Eating at restaurants: not moderation.