Shithi's Chickpeas

I've had a little bit of a fascination with Chana Masala, despite the fact that I haven't ever cooked it, and only had it in a restaurant just once. I have a friend named Jeff that I know from walking (Breast Cancer 3-day), and we'd while away the 8, 12, 16 miles talking food. And he got me thinking about chana masala, and how he'd tried different recipes, and hadn't perfected it.

So I started collecting recipes, without actually trying any of them. Then I went to a birthday party for a 3-year old in Feb (my ex-boss's daughter). My former boss is from Sweden, but his wife is from Bangladesh. They served this WONDERFUL chickpea dish, as well as a delicious salad (which I guess was simply cucumbers, tomatoes, olive oil, white vinegar, salt, pepper, and dill).

I begged for the recipe. Shithi being as busy as me...took awhile for her to send it to me, and me even longer to try it. It's a definite keeper.

Shithi's Chickpeas
1 cup dried chickpeas, cooked. Or one can chickpeas, drained. 0.65
1 T canola oil: 0.04
1/2 tsp cumin seeds: 0.06
1 onion, diced: 0.20
1/2 small can tomato paste: 0.17
1.5 cups chicken broth (I used water and vegetarian broth mix)
1/2 tsp curry powder: 0.06
Total: $1.18 for about 3 cups, or 0.39 per cup.

With 1 tsp butter: adds about 0.02 total, or $0.40 per cup

Cook the cumin seeds in the oil until they turn brown, but not black. Add the onion and saute until translucent. Add remaining ingredients, and cook, stirring, until thickened and chickpeas are soft. This is one of those things that you can ignore simmering and stir occasionally.

She also recommended adding a little butter (or ghee) at the end for flavor, which I did. It was good, but not sure if it helped that much. Maybe next time I'll leave it out.

I served with crusty bread and ramen slaw. I didn't have pita or naan, which would have been better.

Next time I'm making a double batch.