Chana Masaledar

I love Indian food. I can think of no exceptions. The other week I had some chana masaledar (spiced chickpeas) with kulcha. Since I already had most of the spices at home, I gave Madhur Jaffrey's recipe a try. Easy. Simple. Make sure do you your mis en place first.

Ingredients

• 1 Tb vegetable oil
• 2 medium onions, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 1 fresh, hot green chili pepper, minced
• 1 Tbs ground coriander
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper 
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 2 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground
• 1 Tb amchoor powder
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 2 c. tomatoes, chopped small or 1 15-oz can of whole tomatoes with their juices, chopped small
• 2/3 c. water
• 4 c. cooked chickpeas or 2 15-oz cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 lemon (juiced) 

Preparation

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion, garlic, ginger and pepper and sauté over medium heat until browned, about 5 minutes. Turn heat down to medium-low and add the coriander, cumin, cayenne, turmeric, cumin seeds, amchoor (if using it), paprika and garam masala. Cook onion mixture with spiced for a minute or two, then add the tomatoes and any accumulated juices, scraping up any bits that have stuck to the pan. Add the water and chickpeas. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, add lemon juice and salt to taste.