Now the weather's feeling chiller, there's nothing better than getting cosy at home and tucking into a warming dish with friends and family. We looked to chef and foodie Hari Ghotra, author of The Easy Indian Slow Cooker Cook Book for some tips on how to make a delicious, spiced autumn Chana Masala curry using some of our favourite ingredients. Tea lovers will love the twist in this recipe... For this Chana Masala, Hari recommends cooking the chickpeas in tea. 'Unusual I know' she says, 'but it adds such warm earthiness and gives the chickpeas a darker colour adding depth to the masala.' This recipe serves six people and after soaking the chickpeas in water overnight the curry only takes 10 minutes to prep and half an hour to cook so is perfect for cool-weather get-togethers and big family dinners. Just add some bread for dipping and great conversation...

Ingredients

  • 300g dried chickpeas
  • 1 tea bag - English Breakfast, Assam, Indian Breakfast or another black tea
  • 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
  • 4cm piece ginger
  • 2 green chillies
  • 2 medium tomatoes
  • 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • 2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 tsp pomegranate powder
  • ½ tsp black salt
  • Extra salt to taste
  • ½ tsp garam masala
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • Fresh coriander, roughly chopped for garnish
  • 1 tsp chaat masala

Method

Take your dried chickpeas and soak them in about 1.5L of water overnight. The following day, drain the chickpeas and add them to a large saucepan filled with fresh water. Add the tea bag and bring the pan to a boil. Reduce the heat and leave the chickpeas and tea bag to simmer for 1½ hours until the chickpeas are tender. Drain and discard the tea bag but keep the tea-infused water. Mash the chickpeas with a potato masher just a little so that most are still whole and set them to one side. Next, dry roast the cumin seeds in a frying pan for 2-3 minutes until you smell the fragrance of the seeds. Crush and break the seeds up using a pestle & mortar and keep them to one side. Also blend your ginger and green chillies to a fine paste and set aside using a bullet, wet grinder or food processor. Blitz the tomatoes to a puree for later too. In a heavy bottomed saucepan, heat the oil. Add the sliced onions and cook on a medium heat for at least 10-15 minutes until they turn golden. Stir in the sliced garlic and fry off until it changes colour. Add the ginger and chilli paste. Fry for a minute, add the blended tomatoes and cook everything down until the tomatoes and onions start to combine to create a thick masala sauce. Next add the chilli powder, coriander and ground cumin and stir for a few minutes until the masala starts to become aromatic and thick. Pour in the cooked chickpeas and stir to combine with the masala. Sprinkle in the remaining few ingredients: the pomegranate powder and black salt and leave to cook for about 5 minutes more. If the consistency is a little dry,  add a little of the tea-infused water reserved from earlier and leave the chickpeas to cook for about 20 minutes. Keep an eye on the pan and stir every 10 minutes or so. Add more liquid if required. Check the seasoning and adjust to taste. The mixture should be aromatic and almost creamy. Finally, add the garam masala and a good squeeze of fresh lemon juice and stir through the curry then dish up. Top the dish with sliced red onions, freshly chopped coriander, sliced green chillies and a sprinkle of chaat masala. Serve with deep-fried puris and enjoy in total happiness!