Chickpeas or Garbanzo beans?

Hazelnuts or Filberts? Zucchini or Courgette? Sproinger or wired coil whisk? Whichever you prefer to call them, they both mean the same thing. Just like the case of last night’s dinner. I put a bunch of ingredients and spices together in a pot and called the dish Curried Chickpeas with Spinach. Little did my tiny brain know that the dish I created was actually a slight variation on the already well-known Indian dish Chana Masala. Whodda thunk? I’m sometimes so much of a genius that I’m not even aware of it myself. Like the time I was messing around in the chemistry lab and concocted a vaccine for Polio… granted a young hombre from the 50’s had already beaten me to the punch, but still…

Now, I always assumed trying to cook Indian food would be a difficult task and call for an abundance of spices and ingredients that an everyday kitchen wouldn’t normally contain. Boy was I wrong. We apparently had all the right stuff in our cabinets and spice rack and I didn’t even realize it. I can make Indian food after all. Woohoo, muy bueno for the TeenyChef.

Curried Chickpeas with Spinach (Chana Masala)

2 tsp olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 large carrots, chopped

1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced

3 garlic cloves, minced

14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained

2-14.5 oz cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground turmeric

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (more or less depending on how spicy you like it)

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

2 cups fresh baby spinach

Directions:

1) Heat oil in a large pot over medium. Add onion, carrots, ginger and garlic and saute until fragrant, about 5 minutes.

2) Meanwhile, mix the spices in a small bowl. Add the tomatoes, broth and chickpeas. Stir until combined and then add in spice mixture. Stir well and cover pot. Allow to cook 10 minutes.

3) Remove lid and turn heat to low. Allow to simmer 20 minutes.

4) Add spinach and lime juice and allow to cook 5-7 more minutes.

5) Serve over a bed of your grain of choice (rice, millet, quinoa, couscous etc). Enjoy!

So there you have it. Or as my best French Poodle friend would say, “Voila!” I may not have come up with the idea for this particular concoction myself (even though I thought I did) but it’s still incredibly tasty.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I must be going. I have an idea for something I’m sure no one else has come up with before.

Darn it!