eclaire (what’s in a) name?

it’s been quite a week, my friends, full of sadness (a loss in the family), as well as fun (showshoeing at lake tahoe), so i hope you’ll bear with me if this post is a little all over the place.

i love indian food, but it’s a genre that i haven’t experimented much with in my own kitchen – i prefer to let the experts handle it. but there is a dearth of good indian food restaurants in the town where i live. so this puts me in a bit of a quandry.

so when deb over at smitten kitchen wrote about a fabulous chana masala recipe, i leaped at the chance to try making indian fare from scratch. chana masala is essentially just chick peas (chanas), onions, garlic, ginger, and a medley of spices, including garam masala (hence chana masala). the recipe is pretty simple and quick, and yet yields an amazingly flavorful dish.

we served the chana masala over jasmine rice, and alongside green beans. i was gifted a sampler of olive oils and balsamic vinegars from coeur d’olives recently, and i wanted to use one of the cute little sampler bottles in a recipe that would let the olive oil infusions shine. so, i simply added some lemon infused olive oil to green beans and sauteed away – it was a delicious and bright compliment to the spicy masala!

if you’ve ever thought about making indian food at home, i can’t advocate for this fabulous recipe enough – the recipe is speedy and delicious, and you will be graced with servings of tasty chana masala for days.

chana masala (with rice and green beans)

yields 8 servings
slightly adapted from smitten kitchen

• 2c jasmine rice, rinsed
• 1T canola oil
• 2 onions, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2t fresh ginger, grated
• 1/4t red pepper flakes
• 1T ground coriander
• 3t ground cumin
• 1/4t ground cayenne pepper
• 1t ground turmeric
• 2t paprika
• 1t garam masala
• 15oz can of diced tomatoes, in their own juices
• 2/3c water
• 2 15oz cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/2t salt
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 lb green beans, trimmed – optional
• 2T olive oil (or infused olive oil) – optional
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1. for the rice: bring 4c of water and a few dashes of salt to a boil
2. add the rice, reduce heat to low, and allow to simmer for 20 minutes
3. for the chana masala: heat oil in a large pan (I used my 5 quart dutch oven)
4. add onion, garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes, sauteeing over medium heat for 5 minutes
5. lower the heat a bit, then add the coriander, cumin, cayenne, turmeric, paprika, and garam masala, sauteeing for 2 minutes
6. add the tomatoes along with their juices, water, and chickpeas
7. simmer for 10 minutes, then stir in salt and lemon juice
8. for the green beans: 5 minutes before the chana masala is ready, place green beans and oil into pan over medium high heat
9. saute for 5 minutes, or until bright green, hot, and still crispy – then promptly remove
10. serve the chana masala over the rice, with green beans on the side, and enjoy!