Channa Masala

Hey there, Erin again. About a month ago, my sisters and I went to the Holi Festival down in Spanish Fork and while there, we ate some Indian food and fell in love with the food. My favorite dish was Channa Masala which is chick peas (garbanzo beans) in a curry sauce. I went on a search for a fairly easy recipe to make this dish and this is what I found.

Channa Masala

1 tbsp butter
1/2 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove
1/2 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
3 tbsp chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup water
1 15 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp salt
juice of 1/4 lemon

Toss the butter in a skillet set over medium heat. When melted, add the onion and cook unti lsoft and beginning to brown, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.

Add the coriander, cumin, cayenne and turmeric. Stir until combined and cook for 30 seconds or so, or until it is very fragrant.

Stir in the tomatoes. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Dump in the chickpeas and pour in the water. Stir until combined and then bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. Add the paprika, garam masala, salt and lemon juice. Cover and cook at a simmer for 10 minutes.


You might ask what garam masala is. I wondered too. Apparently it's a mixture of spices, kind of like curry. I couldn't find any, so I just used curry powder. I will warn you, it was very spicy and I even cut the spices in half. My kids aren't big on spicy so next time, I will probably cut the 1/2 in 1/2 again. But it still was very good.

I complemented the meal with Uncle Ben's Basmati Ready Rice and french bread. Yummy!!