Channa Masala: Even though I've made some new foods and dishes from scratch this week, it's difficult to do for every blog entry. I definitely plan on doing more cooking in the upcoming weeks, but today's post isn't in that category. I really enjoyed the last Indian-style frozen entree I picked up at Trader Joe's, so I snagged another one on my last trip there. This one was labeled as "channa masala," which I've never had. My experience with Indian cuisine is extremely limited, and I plan on checking out some of the Indian restaurants in ATL that have been recommended to me by my readers. But, for today, this frozen version will have to do.
From what I could tell from the picture on the box, channa masala looked like a mixture of chickpeas and possibly a tomato-based sauce of other ingredients. After checking out the ingredients, I noticed I was right, but the dish had a few other components (ghee, garlic, salt, cilantro, mango powder, turmeric, bay leaf). After heating, I also prepared a piece of TJ's garlic naan to pair with the masala mix.
I really enjoyed this stuff - it was extremely hearty, and the mix of spices and tomato complemented the chickpeas well. Apparently "masala" means "a mixture of spices," and this chickpea version was really tasty. I know that I'd be better off trying this for the first time in a restaurant (or homemade), but I feel like this version gave me a good idea of what the dish is about. And, it was vegetarian, which is something I usually don't go for.
I need to find out more about Indian cuisine ASAP. I've been putting it off way too long.
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