Chickpeas play a role in cuisines across the Middle East, but perhaps feature most prominently in Indian dishes. The Indian dish I have chosen to cook this week is a Punjabi favourite, Channa Masala.
The dish itself consists of Indian style chickpeas, or Kala Channa, which are darker in colour and slightly nuttier in flavour than the chickpeas we are used to eating in Australia and in the west. Tomato, onion, ginger and garlic are added as well but as with most Indian dishes the heart of the dish lies with the blend of spices. I made my own garam masala with whole spices, but you can use a pre-mixed spice. In addition to the garam masala, channa masala is also added. I bought this from an Indian grocer rather than making it as it contains some rarer ingredients such as salt dried mango and ground pomegranate seeds. These ingredients add a tartness to the curry that makes it zing when it hits your tongue and really set this apart from many other curries I have eaten. I served this dish with Indian roti but any Indian bread would be fine.
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