Chickpea Masala (Chana Masala)

Image one: Chickpea Masala (Chana Masala – inspired by Woolworths Fresh Magazine)

This week was a bit hectic. It was one of those weeks where I was thinking ‘ok, I’m going to cook this…’, then I would go looking for a recipe on pinterest or google and go ‘oh, I want to cook that too and that and that and that and that etc’. This all resulted in me using my shopping list app – Out of Milk (you should try it, it is fantastic!), on my phone for the basic stuff but then seriously walking in and out and Aldi, Coles and Woolworths a million times to make sure I had everything so I didn’t have to go out again.

I frustrated even myself and I don’t usually get that annoyed, but one trip as soon as I got back to my car, I thought, hang on, I didn’t get the carrots and I really wanted to make carrot fritters for healthy lunch burgers.

My favourite grocery store is Aldi, it didn’t use to be but I became converted and I love shopping there now, plus there is one just down the street from me, however, I find that I cannot get everything I want from there so I still have to go to Woolworth’s and Coles to get the other stuff. I don’t mind that as the 3 stores are all in a close proximity to each other, however, after getting back to my car for about the tenth time to drop something off, I thought ‘that’s it, I need to plan more when it comes to my meals for the week ahead so I can be better prepared for the shops’.

Working full time with only 2 days to get house stuff, social stuff, life stuff done, means I try and get the household shopping done on a week night, but it’s sometimes more difficult to do it in one hit so that I don’t have to make multiple trips.

Either way, this Chickpea Masala is about the 3^rd thing on my list that I wanted to do this weekend and I am glad I got there in the end (1^st and 2^nd, still in phases on my bench).

The house smells amazing, as soon as I added the curry paste to the pan, I was taken to foreign lands, which was fantastic. Whilst I am not vegan or vegetarian, I have many friends from work who are and I like that their way of life can influence me into trying dishes that I would have found boring when I was younger.

For this week, I found a recipe for this Chickpea Masala in the Woolworth’s Fresh magazine and it looked good, so I thought I would try it. It took less than an hour to make and was not too tricky. I would even give it a go on a week night, but depending on how organised I can be on the weekends, I think that freezing it so it is already done and can be quickly reheated will give me a night off from cooking which whilst I don’t need, I find not enough time for always with work, yoga and everything else there is to achieve in a day. I would definitely cook from scratch every night without doubt as I love it so much and I like a freshly cooked meal, but I am the 1^st to admit that I have found myself a couple of times, surrounded my bowls on my kitchen bench elbow deep in some bowl of ingredients on a week night and thought, ‘hmmm, maybe I should have saved this for weekend’, so that all of the cleaning up or merely the thought of it made me run for the hills. (Thank god for dishwashers I say!)

Original recipe was from Woolworth’s Fresh magazine, however, I modified it slightly.

Serves 3-4

Ingredients

1 x large red onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1/3 cup tikka masala paste
1 x can coconut cream
2 x can chickpeas
1 x can diced tomatoes
6 fresh cherry tomatoes
½ bunch fresh coriander
1 cup cooked basmati rice
Mini pasppadams to serve

Method

Put a splash of olive oil in your frypan and add the diced red onion, fry off for about 2 minutes
Add the garlic and ginger and continue to cook for about 2 mins.
Add the tikka masala paste, fry this off for about 3 mins.
Add the can of diced tomatoes, fry for 1-2 mins.
Add the can coconut cream, stir in very well and ensure that you are happy with the consistency of the curry.
Add the rinsed chickpeas
Put the lid on and bring to the boil for about 2 mins.
Once boiled, turn the stove down, keep the lid on and cook for another 5 minutes.
Taste to make sure the chickpeas are cooking to your liking
Transfer meal into serving dish and garnish with fresh chopped cherry tomatoes and coriander.
Serve with basmati rice and pappadams.

Image two: Dinnertime, ready to eat!

Notes: This meal actually qualifies as both vegan and vegetarian as there is no animal products in it. I highly recommend it as your ‘Meatless Monday’ meal as you can prepare in advance and enjoy without slaving away all day in the kitchen.