A Vegetarian Delight

First, I confess. We've been traveling again. We can't take vacations anymore because although we both work part time, we are working because we have a passion for what we do, so it doesn't feel like work. So we take trips. We went to Florida and enjoyed biking every day in the glorious weather, even when we got caught in the rain at Myaka State park, we laughed and raced the 7 miles back to the car.

My friend Naina has kindly provided me with a simple recipe for an Indian chick pea dish that I've had at restaurants many times but couldn't find a user friendly recipe to prepare. Her recipe is delightful, healthful, cheap and so good that although I didn't plan on having it last night, we did. Peter walked in while I was preparing it and once he got a whiff of it's savory aroma, he talked me into it. With dishes like this one, I prefer to let them "age" a day or two in the fridge. The amounts are guesses, she didn't give me any.

one large onion, or two smaller ones, chopped
1 or 2 cloves garlic, crushed. Omit this this if you are a garlic phobe.
3 or 4 tomatoes (buy the marked down mushy ones, they are perfect), chopped
about one inch of fresh ginger, peeled and diced

Heat a heavy bottom pan, add a few drops of olive oil and saute the onions, garlic and ginger. Let the onions brown a bit. Add the tomatoes and saute another 2 minutes.

Sprinkle 1 to 2 T of tumeric and 1 t garam masala on the mixture, stir to distribute the spices.
Now add 2 small cans of chick peas, stir and cook on very low heat. Add salt to taste, it will probably need some. I ended up putting in about 1/2 t. more of the garam masala. If you want to make this even more economical, and eliminate a lot of the gas from the beans, start with dried chick peas, soak a half pound in water overnight, then rinse well, cook about an hour in water before adding to this dish.

The flavors are so lovely this goes well on brown rice. Naina prefers Basmati rice, my favorite is Jasmine. We loved this dish, but I am thinking of finding a "filler." Indian restaurants often put potatoes in this, but I'm thinking about a small eggplant- less calories and more fiber. I use it in Chili and once it's cooked up, no one knows it's there, but it does lighten up the dish.

Most supermarkets should have Garam Masala in the spice section. In contains many spices in a blend, making the job much easier.