Spicy Indian Chickpeas/Chana Masala

As I've mentioned before, I'm not the biggest fan of beans, though I try to eat them at least somewhat regularly. Indian cooking has really helped with that as there are so many yummy spices and things added to them to make them so very delicious, like in this dish. What's also helped with my bean eating are the dishes that Lisa (of Lisa's Kitchen) makes! This is one that she suggested I try when I was looking to cook more Indian food, and I've defnitely fallen in love with it. It's intensely flavoured, for the most part uses pantry staples (assuming mustard seeds, cumin seeds and cardamom pods are pantry staples for you of course ;) ), and most importantly makes me look forward to eating beans. It definitely falls into the category of dishes to make again and again. I've also recently purchased a few Indian cookbooks (660 Curries, Indian in 6, and 5 Spices, 50 Dishes) so expect more Indian recipes from me!

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Chickpea Cutlets with Mustard Sauce
Middle Eastern Chickpea Soup
Curried Sweet Potato Soup
Artichoke Rotini Pasta

Spicy Indian Chickpeas/Chana Masala
Adapted from Lisa's Kitchen

My adaptations were to make it less spicy, use less lemon, and not add the cinnamon stick.

1 1/4 cups of dried chickpeas
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp butter
1 teaspoon of black mustard seeds
2 teaspoons of cumin seeds
5 green or black cardamom pods
2 bay leaves

1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
1/2 - 1 tablespoon of ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon of cayenne
1 teaspoon of turmeric

2 finely chopped hot red and green chilies
1 large clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 - 2 inch piece of ginger, grated or finely chopped

2 medium-large tomatoes, finely diced
juice from half of one small lemon
1 1/2 teaspoons of sea salt
freshly cracked black pepper
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon of garam masala

Soak the chickpeas overnight in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 1 - 2 hours or until the chickpeas are buttersoft. Drain well and set aside.

Heat the butter and oil in a large pot. When hot, add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, and bay leaves. Stir and fry until the mustard seeds begin to pop and the cumin seeds begin to brown.

Throw in the onions, and stir and fry until they begin to brown. Add the ground coriander, ground cumin, cayenne and turmeric to the pan and stir until the onions are well coated with the spices - about 1 minute. Then, add the fresh chilies, garlic and ginger. Stir and fry for a few minutes.

Next, add the tomatoes, half of the lemon juice and cook to thicken, about 10 minutes. Put the chickpeas into the tomato mixture, add the salt, some black pepper, half of the parsley, the remaining lemon juice and the garam masala. Cook for about 10 minutes to blend the flavours, adding a bit of water if necessary. The chickpeas should be fairly dry.

Remove the bay leaves if you are using whole ones, and the cinnamon stick. Stir in the remaining parsley and serve hot.