Chana Masala has been frequenting the blog scene for a couple of weeks now, and although I hate to admit I’m not a huge fan of Indian food, this dish looked pretty yummy. Andrea finally won me over with her take on Chana Masala, which she sampled from Orangette. Her descriptions of food always make my mouth water.
Andrea’s version of Chana Masala can be found here + what she changed about the recipe from Orangette. I followed Andrea’s adaptation, except for a few slight changes. It’s probably too confusing to follow both version plus my changes, so here is exactly what I did.
1/2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
2 large chicken breasts
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground coriander
1 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
2 tsp. garam masala
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 Tbsp cilantro leaves
1 tsp cayenne powder
2 15-ounce cans organic chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup greek yogurt
1/2 can tomato paste (2-3 Tbsp. ?)
Saute chicken in 1 tsp. of olive oil with onion in a saucepan. Once onion starts to carmelize and chicken is cooked through, add garlic and ginger. After about 30 seconds, add spices to toast. Add tomatoes and bring mixture to a boil. Add 1/2 of the chopped cilantro. Let this simmer for 15 minutes, then stir in chickpeas. Turn heat to low and allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes. Stir in tomato paste. Remove from heat and stir into yogurt.
Serve with the rest of the cilantro sprinkled on top.
I also purchased whole wheat naan at Trader Joes, brushed them with olive oil, and put them in the oven on the warm setting (175 degree farenheit) and served it on the side.
I just love naan. It’s somewhere between being a pita and a pancake and is just soooo good.
I feel the need to explain my slight changes to this recipe as to not offend any of the original chefs. First, Brad really likes meat in his meals, so I graciously offered to add chicken. Second, when I looked at Andrea’s photos, mine didn’t look tomato-y enough, so I added the tomato paste to up the tomato factor. I’m not sure if Indian food ever uses tomato paste, but at least it wasn’t the kind that has oregano and basil (Italian/Indian food?).
This meal won me over on Indian food. I think maybe I’ve just been ordering things I do not like, but that isn’t representative of Indian food as a whole. This dish was even better the following day when it had time to really soak up all the spices.
I’m not going to fool you into thinking that Brad and I dined with place mats by candlelight for this meal. We enjoyed it side by side on the couch watching our first Jersey Shore (can you believe I’ve never seen it?) and working on our wedding reception play list. I’m not going to give much away, but let’s just say that our wedding reception music will accurately represent our teenage years. I’m talking lots of 90’s music. It’s going to be magical. 😉