Mushroom Channa Masala

Curried Chickpeas with Mushrooms

Hardware

• Large sauce pot or pressure cooker
• 5 quart sauteuse pan
• Immersion blender, food processor, or blender

Ingredients

1	lb		chickpeas, soaked overnight
			vegetable oil
1/2 - 1	lb		white mushrooms, sliced or cut into wedges
1	lb		onions, chopped small
1	lb		tomatoes, seeds removed, chopped
4 - 5	Tblsp		curry powder
1 1/2	Tblsp		garam masala powder
			salt

Procedure

1. Start cooking the chickpeas.


2. While the chickpeas are cooking, heat some oil in the sauteuse pan and cook the mushrooms; you want them cooked all the way through but not brown. Put the cooked mushrooms in a bowl and set aside.


3. Wipe out the sauteuse pan then heat more oil; saute the onions until they’re getting soft but don’t let them get brown.


4. Add the tomatoes, cover, and cook until everything is soft.


5. Add the curry powder and garam masala powder and cook gently until the onions and tomatoes are completely suffused with the spices.


6. Using a little water from the beans, blend the contents of the sauteuse into a gravy. Return to the pan and stir in the mushrooms. If necessary, add water from the beans to make a gravy that’s thick but not gloppy.


7. When the chickpeas are done, drain them, reserving the water. Stir the chickpeas into the sauteuse pan. Taste and adjust the salt as necessary.

Notes

If you’re going to use a pressure cooker for the garbanzos, have the sauce mostly finished before starting to cook the chickpeas.

It takes time for the flavors to fully meld. If possible, cook this dish in the morning or even the night before.

I make my own curry powder that has no chiles (capsicums) in it. If you use commercial curry powder, adjust the amount to suit your tastes and tolerance for heat.

Chickpeas can take anywhere from 45 minutes to 3 hours to cook, depending on your water and the age of the beans.

Rating

Difficulty:		Easy
Time:		About 1 hour for the sauce, plus time to soak the beans, plus time to cook the beans (45 minutes to 3 hours)
Precision:		2

Source

A combination of several recipes plus some experimentation.