Chana Punjabi

I wanted Indian food but I knew if I got takeout by myself I'd get way too much and toss my diet to hell. Then, I happened upon The Wednesday Chef's Chana Punjabi. She said it was so good she was rendered mute by the dish and basically wants to eat it over and over again. That's a good dish! Wednesday actually got the recipe from Heather Carlucci Rodriguez, who runs a restaurant called Lassi in NYC. I made it tonight and it was heavenly. I made some adjustments, which might annoy purists, but hey, I indicate where those adjustments are, so go organize your records alphabetically or whatever.
Chana Punjabi Serves 2-4, depending on your side dishes
1 tablespoon canola oil or other vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1 small Thai bird chili, chopped or 1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped
2 large tomatoes, chopped or a 14-ounce can of diced tomatoes, drained
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon salt, or as needed
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon garam masala (you can buy spice or make it yourself)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (I added lemon zest as well)
2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained
2 tablespoons minced cilantro (i'm not a fan of minced cilantro, so I just did a fine chop)

Garam masala already has cumin in it, but I needed more! Do what you will.

1. In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, heat oil and add onion. Sauté until translucent and soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, ginger and chili, and sauté until soft and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and 1/4 cup water. Cover and cook until tomatoes are very soft, about 5 minutes, then remove from heat.

2. Purée mixture in blender or food processor until smooth. Return to pan and place over medium heat. Add paprika, 1 teaspoon salt, coriander, the garam masala, turmeric and lemon juice. Add chickpeas and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low.

3. Cover and simmer until sauce is thick and chickpeas are soft, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Stir pan about every 10 minutes, adding water as needed (up to 1 1/2 cups) to prevent burning. When ready to serve, sauce should be thick. If necessary, uncover pan and allow sauce to reduce for a few minutes, stirring frequently, until desired consistency. Stir in cilantro, adjust salt as needed and serve with cooked rice, if desired.

Ok, here's how I changed the cooking method. Instead of pureeing the onion/tomato/spice mixture, I waited until after adding the chickpeas. Once the chickpeas had cooked about 30 minutes, I then scooped out about a 1/2 cup of the mixture and pureed that. I added it back into the mixture and let it simmer for another 10-15 minutes.

My kitchen smelled glorious.

I paired it with rice, but this would be great on top of samosas or served with naan, or even as a side for a meat dish. I wanted a vegetarian dish since I was going off diet. At room temperature it would make an excellent spread for toasted baguette slices if you wanted to make an appetizer out of it or serve at a party.