Chana Masala (Chickpea Curry)

I have to send a big thanks to Meena, author of the great Indian Food blog Hooked on Heat for this fantastic recipe. I've been craving Indian food for a few days, but didn't feel like ordering from the take-out place across the street, especially when I've been suspecting that the dish I love, Chana Masala, is really cheap to make. Well, once you make the initial investment in the spices needed in this recipe, it sure is! Can of garbanzo beans? 75 cents. Tomatoes? pretty reasonable. Onions? Always have them. I've always been a little intimidated by cooking Indian food, especially since it usually seems so labor intensive, but I had been wanting to give it another shot for a while and Meena's recipe seemed pretty straight forward. So, with the price factor combined with the easiness of this recipe and the resulting extreme deliciousness, I'd call this recipe a hit.




I followed the recipe quite closely but left out the green chile pepper because I couldn't find one at the store. Also, I had some fresh cherry tomatoes on hand, which I used, but added some canned whole tomatoes, because it wasn't quite enough.