Channa Masala

So, blog? How's it going?

I have been up to my ears this spring in photo editing and such, so this blog has sadly fallen by the wayside. However, soon enough, especially later this summer, I have high hopes to get on the more regular blog train! (This may or may not have to do with exciting announcements that involve states called Vermont.)

On to the food. Alex and I have pretty much given up cooking meat for most meals during the week. A. We've decided we're only consuming sustainably raised stuff. and B. it's turned out quite a bit cheaper to eat mostly veggie, which is lovely. and C. These veggie dishes are super quick and easy, and flavorful, which is awesome for a weeknight meal.


As if to prove how lazy I was feeling last night. I didn't want to grab my actual camera. Sorry for the cell phone photo!

I was in the mood for something Indian flavored last night, and remembered starring Smitten Kitchen's recipe awhile ago, so figured I'd give it a try.

I made this in like 25 minutes, which is great for any night of the week I think! It was fairly spicy, but pretty tasty! I'm betting on it tasting even better as leftovers, as I don't think it had quite enough to cook and let the flavors meld as we were mighty hungry! I was tempted to add some potato as well, which I might do next time.

Chana Masala
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

A bit of olive oil
2 medium onions, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 hot green chili pepper, minced (we used jalapeno, as that's what we had)
1 tablespoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (I used more a heaping 1/4)
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 15-ounce can of diced tomatoes, (smaller diced is better)
1 bell pepper, diced
2/3 cup water
4 cups cooked chickpeas or 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 teaspoon salt
juice of 1 lemon

Add onion, garlic, ginger and pepper and sauté over medium heat with oil until browned, about 5 minutes. Turn heat down to medium-low and add the coriander, cumin, cayenne, turmeric, paprika and garam masala. Cook with spices for a minute or two, then add the tomatoes with their juice and the bell pepper. Add the water and chickpeas. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, then stir in salt and lemon juice.

Enjoy!


We had ours over a bed of quinoa, but rice would be tasty as well!