Chana Masala

Chana Masala

Our book club read A Homemade Life and I was charged with making the Chana Masala as our main dish for discussion night. I started with the A Homemade Life recipe, but ended up tweaking it a lot to use what I had in my pantry and could find at my store. Serve this over the rice of your preference, but basmati would be most authentic. This is such a quick, easy and tasty vegan dinner.

-2 Tbsp olive oil
-1 onion, coarsely chopped
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-1 tsp cumin
-1/2 tsp ground coriander
-1/4 tsp ground ginger
-2 tsp garam masala
-1/4 tsp ground cardamom
-1/4 tsp cayenne
-1 tsp salt
-1 (29 oz) can diced tomatoes
-2 (15 oz) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
-1 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
-juice of 1/2 lemon

Heat the oil in a medium pot, over medium heat. Add the onion, and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is deeply caramelized. Reduce heat to medium low. Add the garlic, cumin, coriander, ginger, garam masala, caradmom, cayenne, and salt and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant and toasty, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and their juices.Raise the heat to medium, and bring the pot to a gentle boil. Adjust the heat to maintain a simmer, cook gently, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reduces a bit and begins to thicken, about 5 minutes.Add chickpeas, stirring well , and cook over medium low heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the cilantro and lemon juice and serve over rice of your choice (we like basmati).