Chana Masala

I had some friends over for dinner the other night and made the following Chana (Chickpea) Masala.

But first, a tangent:


I really love to entertain/play host, almost to a fault.

It's actually good that I can only have dinner parties when I house sit (which is still pretty frequent), because if I could, I would overdose on hosting and probably go Stepford Wife all over everything.

What I'm trying to say is, give me the chance/space and I'll make dinner. You bring the wine.








So... Chana Masala- the recipe was thought up on the fly and it's a pretty bastardized version of masala, but it gets the job done.

You'll Need:

2 tbs oil
1 onion- diced
1 yam- diced
1 potato- diced
4 cloves of garlic- minced
2 (ish) tbs fresh ginger- minced

1 tsp of:
cumin, paprika, turmeric, ground red chili, garam masala, curry powder and sugar.
-Add more red chili and curry powder if you want more of a kick
-You can buy garam masala at Rainbow Foods by the teaspoon. You can also make your own.

2 cans chick peas
1 can diced tomato's
1 cup frozen peas
2 cups fresh spinach
1 cup water (dependent on how thick you like the sauce)
1 tbs butter

-Put the onion and oil in a skillet and let the onion brown, about 7 minutes.
-Once the onion is browned, add the potato and yam and let them soften for a couple of minutes
- Throw the garlic and ginger in the skillet and let everything cook until it's fragrant.
- Add in all the spices and make sure the veges are sufficiently coated.
- Dump the chick peas (with the reserve liquid) and tomatoes into the skillet. Let everything simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Add the peas, spinach and water to the skillet, let everything simmer on low heat for 5 more minutes (or so)
- Mix the butter into the curry right before serving.

Enjoy! I made basmati rice to accompany, but this would be really good over quinoa or cous-cous too.

Nothing makes a dinner party classier than MGMT.