Continuing on my winter vegetarian theme (can you tell I’m still within the New Year’s Resolution timeframe?), I bring to you a super easy Indian dish, chickpea tikka masala. This is savory and spicy, rich and creamy, and very filling. I like to serve this with toasted naan (Indian flatbread) right out of the oven. This is a dish I get hooked on, and so I make a big pot of it on Sunday and eat it for lunches throughout the week.
Here’s how I make it. (The recipe is at the end)
Get your widest pan with the tallest sides, or if you have none, pull out your widest pot. Add in one tablespoon of vegetable oil (or coconut oil, or olive oil, etc.) and to that oil add in ½ of a red onion, diced fine. Sometimes I decide to not dice it and to instead have it in strips, so to do that, cut your half onion into half again, making two quarter onions. Then slice each quarter thinly, into strips about two inches long and about 1/8 inch wide.
Sauté the onions in the oil over medium high heat, caramelizing them until the onions are rich and dark. That takes a good ten minutes or so over medium high heat. If it looks or smells like they are burning, turn the heat down to medium and stir the onions more often. You want to keep that rich sticky stuff on the bottom of the pan. That is magic. If you don’t have time to caramelize the onions, just cook them about five minutes to soften.
While the onions are cooking, it is time to toast your spices. The reason is that toasted spices taste ever so much better than untoasted spices. They develop a really rich smell that seems to awaken them. This is a very quick process, and must be carefully done to avoid burning the spices.
Take two tablespoons of curry powder, or garam masala, or if you’re like me and went to the Indian grocery and bought this bag of mixed spices that you grind yourself into garam masala, take two tablespoons of that. This is an incredibly aromatic blend of a ton of spices. I recognize cardamom, bay leaves, cinnamon bark, coriander, cumin, black pepper and sesame seeds, but there are lots more spices in here that I don’t. This huge bag was only $2.29 (I rebagged it in a zip top bag when I opened it up). I grind up these spices and then toast them, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they do that in the reverse order in India.
Anyway, take two tablespoons of your ground spices and pour them into a clean, dry, small frying pan. (No oil!) Place that pan over your burner at medium heat just until you can smell the spices. That takes only about 30 seconds to a minute. (You’ll know what I mean when you smell them. All of a sudden you will say, whoa, Indian spices!) Immediately pull that pan off the heat and pour the spices onto a plate—something that is not still hot. If you keep them in the pan, the spices will continue to cook.
Turning back to the onion pan, once they are nicely browned, turn the heat down to medium. Add in two tablespoons of grated ginger (it’s ok to use the jar, but fresh will give it real pop!), and a minced Serrano chili. The chili is hot, but the spice is not overly hot when cooked down. You can instead add a small minced jalapeno instead, if your market does not have Serrano chilies. Add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste, and add in the toasted spices.
Let this cook for a couple of minutes, and stir it well. It will be pretty sticky, but keep stirring it. Add in one 28-oz. can of diced tomatoes and two cups of drained and rinsed chickpeas. Add in ½ teaspoon of salt, and cook the chickpea tikka masala over medium high heat for 15 minutes, stirring often.
Take the chickpea tikka masala off the heat and add in ¼ cup heavy cream or ¼ cup coconut milk (canned, the thick stuff) or ¼ cup milk (if that’s all you have). It will look like the above photo. Sometimes I don’t add in any dairy at all, and it still looks and tastes really great! See the below photo for the difference.
Stir in ¼ cup chopped cilantro and serve. Sometimes I like to put the cilantro on top and let each person stir in as much as they like!
- 1 Tablespoon vegetable or other coking oil
- ½ red onion, diced or sliced fine
- 1 small Serrano or jalapeno pepper, chopped fine
- 2 Tablespoons curry powder or garam masala
- 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
- 28 oz can chopped tomatoes
- 2 cups chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- ¼ cup heavy cream or coconut milk (the thick kind) or regular milk
- Get your widest pan with the tallest sides, or if you have none, pull out your widest pot. Add in one tablespoon of vegetable oil (or coconut oil, or olive oil, etc.)
- Add in ½ of a red onion, diced fine. Sometimes I decide to not dice it and to instead have it in strips, so to do that, cut your half onion into half again, making two quarter onions. Then slice each quarter thinly, into strips about two inches long and about ⅛ inch wide.
- Sauté the onions in the oil over medium high heat, caramelizing them until the onions are rich and dark. That takes a good ten minutes or so over medium high heat. If it looks or smells like they are burning, turn the heat down to medium and stir the onions more often. If you don’t have time to caramelize the onions, just cook them about five minutes to soften.
- While the onions are cooking, it is time to toast your spices. This is a very quick process, and must be carefully done to avoid burning the spices.
- Take two tablespoons of curry powder, or garam masala and pour them into a clean, dry, small frying pan. (No oil!) Place that pan over your burner at medium heat just until you can smell the spices. That take’s only about 30 seconds to a minute. (You’ll know what I mean when you smell them. All of a sudden you will say, whoa, Indian spices!) Immediately pull that pan off the heat and pour the spices onto a plate—something that is not still hot. If you keep them in the pan, the spices will continue to cook, and will burn.
- Turning back to the onion pan, once they are nicely browned, turn the heat down to medium.
- Add in two tablespoons of grated ginger (it’s ok to use the jar, but fresh will give it real pop!), and a minced Serrano chili. You can instead add a small minced jalapeno instead, if your market does not have Serrano chilies.
- Add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste and the toasted spices.
- Let this cook for a couple of minutes, and stir it well. It will be pretty sticky, but keep stirring it.
- Add in one 28-oz. can of diced tomatoes and two cups of drained and rinsed chickpeas.
- Add in ½ teaspoon of salt, and cook the chickpea tikka masala over medium high heat for 15 minutes, stirring often.
- Take the chickpea tikka masala off the heat and add in ¼ cup heavy cream or ¼ cup coconut milk (canned, the thick stuff) or ¼ cup milk (if that’s all you have). Sometimes I don’t add in any dairy at all, and it still looks and tastes really great!
- Stir in ¼ cup chopped cilantro and serve. Sometimes I like to put the cilantro on top and let each person stir in as much as they like!
Leave a Reply