Chana Punjabi

Memorable meals need not be fussy, complex, intricate works of art. They don’t necessarily require expensive ingredients or complicated preparation. Sometimes company and ambience is important, but standing alone in the kitchen sneaking morsels works too. Thats how I remember this curried chickpea dish. Their long slow braising often interrupted by my descending ‘tasting’ spoon, charting their progress from ‘fresh from the tin (bland)’, past the ‘tasty sauce only (mediocre)’ stage to ‘plump, spiced, juicy flavour explosions’. Need I say more?

Excuse me while I go open some more tins of chickpeas, I’ve just remembered how delicious this meal was.

Chana Punjabi
From NY Times via The Wednesday Chef

1T vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2t garlic, minced
1t ginger, minced
1 small Thai bird chili, chopped
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1 1/2t paprika
1t salt, or as needed
1t ground coriander
1/2t garam masala
1/2t turmeric
1t freshly squeezed lemon juice
2x 400g cans chickpeas, drained
2T fresh coriander

Cooked basmati rice for serving.

Heat a pan and gently saute the onion in the oil. Cook until translucent and soft, then add the garlic, ginger and chilli and cook until fragrant. Add tomatoes and 1/4 cup water, cover and cook until tomatoes are very soft, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and puree tomato mixture until very smooth. (Or, alternatively, don’t. I don’t think the sauce requires pureeing necessarily.)
Return pureed mixture to a pan over medium heat and add paprika, 1t salt, ground coriander, garam masala, tumeric and lemon juice. Add chickpeas, bring to the boil stirring and then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer.

Cover and simmer until sauce is thick and chickpeas are soft, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Stir pan frequently, you may need to add more water to prevent the bottom from sticking.
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 fresh coriander, adjust salt as needed and serve with cooked rice, if desired.