Easy chana masala. Big, bold Indian tastes. Simple and fast to make. Sometimes easy can be delicious. This is one of those times.
Indian cooking can seem daunting at first. The list of ingredients is long. The steps are complicated. And it can take forever to make.
The results are worth it though. You can’t that magical Indian taste out of a jar. You can get something semi-decent. I’m not saying it’s terrible. But it’s not the same as scratch cooking.
It’s the same as anything. That loving prepared lasagna vs. what you buy from the freezer aisle. See what I mean. You can’t get something for nothing.
easy chana masala
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp neutral oil (e.g. canola)
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 4 Tbsp onion - finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic - crushed
- 1 green chili - finely diced
- 3 Tbsp fresh tomato - diced
- 1 1/2 tsp tomato paste - mixed with a couple tablespoons water
- 1/4 cup water
- 20 pieces finely julienned fresh ginger
- 1 Tbsp cilantro - minced
- 1 19 oz can chickpeas
- A bit of cilantro and diced tomato to garnish
Spice Mix
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp kasoor methi fenugreek leaves
- 1/4-1 tsp mild kashmiri chili powder 1/4 tsp is medium heat, 1 tsp is pretty hot
- 1 tsp Indian restaurant mix powder or curry powder - recipe link below
- 1 tsp chana masala spice mix - store bought or another tsp of curry powder
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
Instructions
- Prep your ingredients. Chop the vegetables. Make the spice mix, Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Mix the tomato paste with water.
- Heat a skillet over medium heat.
- Add the vegetable oil.
- Add the cumin seed and cook until it sizzles. This should happen almost instantly.
- Cook the onions until they are soft and translucent, about 1-2 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic, green chili and diced tomato.. Cook one minute, stirring occasionally.
- Turn the heat down. Add the spice mix and cook 20-30 seconds.
- Add the diluted tomato paste, turn the heat up and cook for 30 seconds or so.
- Mix in the ginger, cilantro and water.
- Add the chickpeas.
- Reduce the heat and cook, stirring, until the chickpeas are warmed through.
- Garnish with tomato and cilantro and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Sometimes you need comfort food. Gnocchi with sausage tomato sauce and fresh mozzarella is pure, simple comfort food. Just warm and gooey and good.
Kind of a ridiculous description but I can’t come up with a better one. Maybe I’m uninspired tonight but this dish is hit you over the head tasty comfort food.
Tang from the tomatoes. Depth from the sausage. Melted cheese. Lots of melted cheese. Warm and gooey and good.
Gnocchi with sausage is weeknight food
It’s like a lasagna you can whip up in just over an hour. And most of that time is unattended. It’s way easier than a lasagna but it’s the same general idea.
Tomato sauce. Cheese. Meat. Pasta. All the major food groups in one perfect dish.
It’s a simple recipe so you can’t hide bad ingredients. San Marzano tomatoes aren’t 100 percent necessary but they really do add something special.
Decent Italian sausage isn’t that to find. And that leaves the cheese. Fresh mozzarella. Again, not hard to find. Even Costco carries it. It also goes by fior di latte. Either way it’s a revelation worth seeking out.
This is comfort food
Gnocchi with sausage is family food. Food to share with good friends. Food your kids will love. Its for people that value flavour over flash.
You can’t plate it in any way that looks good. It’s just a big mess of stringy cheese. Tasty, tasty stringy cheese.
If you are serving it at a dinner party cook individual portions in ramekins or other small oven-proof dishes. Serve it up with a nice green salad. That would work nicely. Get you flash and flavour.
