Enjoying our Chana Masala

Chana Masala

About fifteen years ago, I was introduced to really amazing Indian food. Of course, I had tasted it before but it was the watered down Americanized version that frequently plague restaurants.

Although the Indian cuisine I tasted was fine, I wasn’t thrilled. Fast forward a few months later when I started dating a man who just happened to be from India. At that time, they had lived in the USA for about 15 years. A few months after we started dating, he introduced me to his mother.

I recall being slightly nervous, wondering what she would think of me. I knew his mom wanted him to date an Indian girl, and I definitely wasn’t that. His mother wore saris which I’ve always loved and she made the most amazing traditional Indian dishes too. The first few moments were slightly awkward, but as we started chatting We discovered that we shared a few passions; Cooking and gardening. It wasn’t long before we became friends.

I learned a lot from her, asked numerous questions and soaked in all that knowledge. She opened my eyes to a new world of spices, tastes, flavors, new techniques, and a multitude of recipes. Which was perfect for a foodie like myself, right? The boyfriend and I eventually, parted ways, on friendly terms, and the mother and I? We still keep in contact with each other.

For the past few days, I’ve been craving Chana masala. I haven’t made this dish since my daughter was about two years old and so yesterday I gathered up the ingredients, pulled out my stainless steel skillet and switched into creative cooking mode.

Although I love colorful and flavorful sauces that accompany quite a few of the dishes, I create. I also love the dry dishes too, and the Chana Masaa definitely delivers here. For those who aren’t aware, Chana Masala is a fairly dry dish, it’s overloaded with chickpeas (garbonzo beans), it has an abundance of fragrant spices, combined with the slightly sour citrus taste that I love.

As I prepared the Chana masala the aroma from the spices filled the house and my daughter came bounding into the kitchen wondering when the meal would be ready. I smiled and said,”It won’t be long now!”, not satisfied she perched herself on a bar stool and watched while I finished preparing the meal.

The Chana masala was amazing. I savored mine, while my daughter gobbled hers quickly. We had a great time hanging out together & bonding while we ate that Chana Masala. What made it even better was knowing I had made enough for leftovers…

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Recipes, Vegan, vegetarian, Vegetarian, whole food, Chana Masala