Heather Carlucci-Rodriguez's Chana Punjabi

I have been rendered mute by a chickpea. (Can you say mute when you mean your ability to type?) To be more specific, a jumbo can of chickpeas simmered for close to an hour in a thick, spicy tomato sauce spiked with jalapeño and lemon juice and finished with fresh cilantro (two nights in a row, people - can you believe it?). Mute, I tell you. All I can think to tell you is that I loved this dish, I loved it, and I will make it again and again until the end of time. Who cares that the only Indian take-out place near us stinks? I will never need them again. Who cares that times are tough and money is short? This recipe costs barely anything to make. Who cares that the world has too many people that eat too much meat? I would gladly never eat meat again.

Chana punjabi, I think I love you.

This recipe comes from Heather Carlucci-Rodriguez, who runs darling little Lassi in the West Village and has a way with Indian food that makes me weak in the knees. It is simple: you make a quick tomato sauce, with ginger and garlic and jalapeño and warm spices (garam masala, you make my heart sing), then puree it into a creamy mass. Into that go the drained, rinsed chickpeas (canned! hurrah!) which stew and stew in their sticky, gorgeous sauce while you do other things, like daydream about moving to India. In the last 20 minutes of cooking, bang a pot of rice on the stove and you're pretty much set for the best dinner you'll have all week. (Aren't I presumptuous? What do I know about what you've been eating?)

Apparently, this is meant to serve four people. I answer that by dissolving into bright peals of laughter. Four? Are you serious? Barely even two. We had to settle for a salad after we scraped the pot clean like a pair of Dickensian orphans, and let me tell you that never has a salad been so resented. Next time I'm doubling this recipe. In fact, you should go ahead right now and double the ingredients you'll need to buy to make this yourself - don't even bother making just one batch.

Chana Punjabi
Serves 2

1 tablespoon canola oil or other vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1 small Thai bird chili, chopped or 1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped
2 large tomatoes, chopped or a 14-ounce can of diced tomatoes, drained
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon salt, or as needed
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained
2 tablespoons minced cilantro
Cooked rice for serving (optional)

1. In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, heat oil and add onion. Sauté until translucent and soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, ginger and chili, and sauté until soft and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and 1/4 cup water. Cover and cook until tomatoes are very soft, about 5 minutes, then remove from heat.

2. Purée mixture in blender or food processor until smooth. Return to pan and place over medium heat. Add paprika, 1 teaspoon salt, coriander, the garam masala, turmeric and lemon juice. Add chickpeas and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low.

3. Cover and simmer until sauce is thick and chickpeas are soft, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Stir pan about every 10 minutes, adding water as needed (up to 1 1/2 cups) to prevent burning. When ready to serve, sauce should be thick. If necessary, uncover pan and allow sauce to reduce for a few minutes, stirring frequently, until desired consistency. Stir in cilantro, adjust salt as needed and serve with cooked rice, if desired.

Comments

[tropos]

A newcomer to your wonderful blog, courtesy Times Online.
Have to add my 2 cents to Chaana Punjabi:: it goes much better with Indian flat breads, rather than with rice. Best with deep-fried puri, but naan or roti will also do very well.

[Liana]

This has given me a reason to get out of bed the last couple mornings—yes, I doubled it, even though, yes, my husband is out of town, and, yes, I've been having it for breakfast. Thanks!

[Sathya]

I love chickpeas, and chana dhal as I know it. I love the way you describe it and are so excited!

[deeba]

LOL..."scraped the pot clean like a pair of Dickensian orphans". How I loved reading your expressions. Beautifully written & you are making my heart sing! I shall make this soon too, & will definitely double the recipe. You can never have too much of a good thing! I found you while searching for sour cherry biscotti! What a great site this is!

[Pete]

Made this tonight and enjoyed it a great deal. Trying to blend the hot tomato mix was interesting, by which I mean messy :)

Tasted great though, thanks.

[yumyummaybud]

I made this today and it was slightly bland. (I think my Jalepeno was a bit wimpy)I managed to tart it up with some Greek Yogurt and toasted almonds for lunch. Went back to it for dinner and it is much improved! Now for those potatoes...

[Crystal]

I know you get this a lot, but *thank you for posting!* I love ethnic, healthy food, but I probably wouldn't have dreamed of trying to feed this to my husband without your high praise -- when we were dating, he would order steak, hamburger, chicken fingers or pizza when we were out. He's been a dear about trying new and healthy foods, but we usually end up compromising (guess who's gained weight?), and I never would I have dreamed of serving something meatless other than Italian! We both loved it, ate two generous helpings, plus had lunch the next day -- we'll be doubling it next time too :)

[elle]

I loved how you described this dish that made it impossible NOT to try this recipe!

I made it yesterday with chickpeas but i guess we're just not fans of chickpeas in the core so although we liked it, it didn't really hit the spot. Today i tried it again with potato cubes and it was out of this world! My boyfriend kept praising it and i can't thank you enough for this recipe :)

ps - i read through ur comments and yes it IS better the next day!!

[Kate]

Awesome! i too have been rendered mute by the chickpea. I think I'd use two peppers the next time to make it really spicy and I'd use fresh tomatoes. It came out great with the canned but I bet it would be even better with fresh.

[Marilyn]

I made this for my family and they loved it. I have since made two more times. I added mizithra cheese at the end, and served it over brown basmati. Very popular at our home, and healthy too!

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[shef26]

really scrumptious recipe..i am going to invite some of my friends for dinner and surely going to cook this..thanx for the gr8 recipe

[Laurie]

I made this recipe this weekend- but I did it in the crockpot. It worked wonderfully- no frantic stirring, no worrying about it burning. The only hard part was waiting 6 hours for it to be finished!
I followed the recipe up to step 2- but instead of putting everything back in the pot, I put it in my crockpot, set it to High, and let it go. I stirred it a couple of times, and fished a chickpea out every once in a while to see if they were soft. Once they were I turned the crockpot to Warm and left it alone until the rest of dinner was ready.
It was a great, easy, stress-free way to a yummy dinner!

[GraceF]

Who knew you could do this with chickpeas! This recipe sounds somewhat healthy too...or at least I can pretend it is so...

[Anne]

Hi! I've just recently discovered your blog (what took me so long?) and, believe it or not, have gone back and read every single post since Day One. (Yes, I am bedridden this week and without a TV.) And I must say- wow; how glad I am to have found someone who cooks the recipes I pore over every Wednesday, and reviews them with such honesty and great wit. I grew up in Bayside, about 15 minutes from Flushing. New York will miss you.

But, getting to the point, this recipe: I am eating as I type this, and similarly rendered mute. Thank you. I can't wait to cook this over and over again.

And, congratulations and best of luck on your new endeavor! Can't wait to read when it's finally published.

:) Anne

[Sophia]

I doubled the recipe and I'm so glad I did! I eat Indian once a week at my favorite place in LA. This would rival any dish there & I made it!

I'm really surprised on how easy it was to venture out and make something new. Nothing about this was unhealthy either. Two thumbs up!