Continuing on from my conversation with @Skipper in the hot sauce thread. . .
Last night I made some shrimp-and-veggie korma, heavy on the coconut milk, but with plenty of ghee-fried golden raisins and cashews in the mix, too.
I also made some chana masala, but didn’t snag a picture of it. It was partially a lazy man’s variant, but I think it turned out really well. Recipe below, to hopefully tempt the ol’ Skip. This makes a lot, so consider halving it.
- 1 lb of Chickpeas, pressure-cooked in 6-8 cups of water with two regular teabags (for color) and 1 tsp salt until tender (about 15m of pressure; could slow-cook for 8 hours or just boil for 1.5, instead)
- 1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 1 tsp Cumin Seed
- 2 medium Red Onions, diced
- 2 tbsp Ginger-Garlic Paste (or about 1 tbsp each finely minced ginger and garlic; but the paste is super easy to make)
- 2-3 Green Chilies (I use Jwalas, but Jalapenos or Serranos work well), minced
- 1 1/2 tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Cumin Powder
- 1 1/2 tbsp Coriander Powder
- 1 tsp Turmeric
- 1-2 tsp Red Chili Powder (or to taste)
- 2-3 cans Diced Tomatoes (can use fresh if they’re good where you are)
- 1-2 tsp Garam Masala (to taste at the very end)
- 2-3 tbsp Cilantro, chopped
Reserve the cooking water from your chickpeas–it’ll help make your sauce later.
Heat your oil in a very large, deep skillet, or maybe just a Dutch oven/stock pot over medium heat (or medium-high, if you’re frisky). Toss in the cumin seeds. Optionally, if you wanna get real fancy, toss in 2 bay leaves, two cinnamon sticks, and 8-10 cloves while you’re at it. But fishing those out later is annoying enough that maybe it’s not worth it. . .
Anyway, once the seeds are all sizzly, add in the diced onions and cook, stirring frequently, for 12-15 minutes, until they’re starting to brown a little all over. Add in the ginger garlic paste, cook another minute (stirring more), then the green chilies, and another minute.
Add in the powdered spices (cumin, coriander, turmeriic, and chili powders + salt) and mix that into the masala you’ve got going, letting the oil heat them up for 30-60 seconds before adding in your tomatoes. Continue cooking, stirring as needed, for another 10-15 minutes, until the tomatoes are well softened and the mixture is thickening. Add water from the chickpeas to keep ti from sticking as needed, and pour in enough to achieve as saucy a texture as you desire. This is usually a bit of a chunky curry, but hey, it’s your dinner, right?
Add in the chickpeas and stir together gently with the cilantro and garam masala (if you opted for the optional stuff upfront, you can drop this back to 1 tsp to start with, but taste it! If it needs a little zing, go with more). Serve over rice :-D