Chickpea Tikka Masala

It’s no secret I’m crazy for chickpeas. I have loved them since I first tasted them in the NYU cafeteria, but my devotion has grown since I kicked the can and started making them from dried all the time. Hot on the heels of this rich cashew curry, I wanted to try a tomato-based version with some serious spice. The end result was so good, Dan and I happily ate it for dinner three nights in a row. That’s more or less unprecedented around here. I believe variety (and The Colbert Report on DVR)  is the spice of dinnertime. This was an exception. 

Chickpea Tikka Masala

Serves 6

1 cup dried chickpeas, cooked this way, made without meat
4 garlic cloves
1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 jalapeno, seeds and all, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon garam masala
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons grape seed (or other neutral) oil
1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes and their juice
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves
1 recipe homemade paneer, cut into bite-sized cubes (optional)

Repeat after me: the food processor is my friend. This recipe, which could be such a time-sucking drag to prepare, one that leaves you with capsaicin-tinged fingers poised to bite you in the face when you later rub your eyes, becomes neat and easy-breezy when you employ your mechanized blades.

The first step is preparing what I’m going to perhaps incorrectly call your homemade curry paste. You throw the garlic, ginger, and jalapeno into the bowl of the food processor and you pulse it, scraping the vegetable shrapnel back into the bottom of the bowl every few pulses, until everything is minced to more or less a pulp. Scrape it out and put it in a ramekin or small bowl with the tomato paste and garam masala. Stir it all together and set it aside.

Next, put your pieces of onion in the processor and pulse that until it is very finely minced. In a heavy bottomed sauce pan over medium heat, heat up the oil and add the onions, stirring occasionally, until they are very soft and light golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes or even longer if you want to bring out their maximum sweetness.

While the onions are cooking, dump your can of tomatoes in the food processor, along with your sugar, salt, and coconut milk, and pulse that until it is mostly smooth with a few nice tomato chunks if you like that sort of thing. Let it wait in the food processor for its turn in the pan. No need to dirty another dish, right?

OK, back to the onions. When they are sufficiently soft and brown, add your garlic-ginger-jalapeno-tomato paste-garam masala mixture, and fry for about 3 minutes, until you can smell the garlic and the tomato paste begins to darken. Now dump in your tomato mixture from the food processor. Bring to a simmer, and cook for about 20 minutes. At this point, you can freeze this sauce (it’s good with chicken too) or refrigerate until tomorrow. Stir in the cilantro and the paneer if you are using it just before serving. Serve over rice.