Channa Masala

Chana Masala -a classic Indian, vegetarian recipe - is a lip-smacking, spicy, tangy, finger-lickingly good dish...you can serve it with chapatis, puris, or the best-suited bhaturas.

Ingredients:

4 handfuls of chickpeas (soaked overnight and pressure cooked with a little salt)
reserved water (drained form the cooked chickpeas)
1 large onion, chopped
2 medium sized tomatoes, chopped
3 chillies, chopped (you can vary this depending on your requirement
2 teaspoons ginger-garlic paste (alternatively, 2 pods of garlic and an inch piece of ginger roughly chopped)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon of chilli powder and jeera powder
2 teaspons of garam masala
2 teaspoons of curd
a teaspoon of oil
salt, to taste
a pich of sugar
chopped coriander, a handful

Method: 

Heat oil in a pan. Add the ginger-garlic and saute for a minute before adding the onions and chillies. Cook the onions for 4-5 mins till slightly brown and cooked through. Now add the jeera, turmeric, chilli powder and tomatoes. Cook this mixture till the tomatoes are soft.

Cool the mixture and bled it till you get a not-very-fine paste. Pour this paste back into a hot pan, add the curd and cook till the "curdy" smell is gone (this makes the curry creamy w/o the calories of cream or butter). Now add the cooked chickpeas and garam masala, and stir till the chickpeas are covered with the paste. Add the reserved chickpea water, lower the flame and cook till the gravy turns thick.

Garnish with chopped coriander and serve it hot!