So I was supposed to make Chicken Tikka Masala this week, but completely forgot to get yogurt for some reason even though it was on my grocery list. Since I had already bought some spices for it, I decided to see if I could find an Indian chickpea dish (since I have chickpeas 2x week for lunch). I found a few different recipes for Chana Masala, a traditional Indian chickpea dish, and decided on this one from SmittenKitchen.com with some altercations. You can see what I left out by checking out the original recipe. It still ended up being delicious! Here’s what you need:

• 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (I used 1/8 tsp ground)
• 1 fresh, hot green chili pepper, minced (I used 1/8 tsp chili powder, didn’t have a pepper)
• 1/2 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (this makes it extremely spicy, so cut in half if you need to)
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 cup tomatoes, chopped small (I used 3/4 cup crushed tomatoes)
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 lemon (juiced) or 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

Saute the onions, garlic, and pepper in oil for about 5 minutes, then add the spice mixture and mix for a minute or two. Stir in the tomatoes and then the chickpeas and water. Let that simmer for 10 minutes on medium-low, then add the salt and lemon juice. I chose to have this over rice, but it would be good with naan too! Next time I make this I’m definitely going to use the green pepper and a little less cayenne. The only tomatoes I had were crushed tomatoes with basil, but I didn’t find the basil taste to affect it too much (obviously using regular non-flavored tomatoes would be ideal).