Khatte Chana

I am not a big one for vegetarian dishes. I have nothing against them philosophically, at least not in the way that a strict vegan would against, say, a duck stuffed into a chicken stuffed into a turkey stuffed into a giraffe’s neck. It’s just that meat seems to make all dishes better. Folks in my adoptive home in the South understand this; recipes for vegetable dishes almost always include a ham hock or fat back or bacon or something else greasy and porcine. That’s what makes it “food” down here.

If I had to pick one dish upon which to subsist for the rest of my life, however, it might well be the following vegetarian delight of Indian origin. It is savory (thanks to the Indian spices and the chickpeas), sweet (thanks to the caramelized onions and ghee), and a little sour (thanks to the tamarind paste). Fresh ginger and hot pepper add some zip. It is very, very satisfying.

It’s called khatte chana, which, I suspect, means “unbelievably delicious chickpeas” in one of India’s hundred and eighty thousand languages. Here’s what you’ll need to make it:

1 large onion
1 tbsp. ghee
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large tomato, seeded and diced fine
2 cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
tamarind pulp
½ tsp. turmeric
1 ½ tsp. ground cumin
1 ½ tsp. garam masala
½ tsp. cayenne pepper
2” of ginger root. grated
chapati

A note about ingredients: ghee is clarified butter and is available in jars at your local Indian specialty store, as are all the following; tamarind pulp comes in a black, sticky block about the size of a bar of Ivory soap; turmeric, cumin, cayenne and garam masala are all ground spices that will be much, much cheaper at the specialty store than at your local supermarket or, worse still, Whole Food. Chapati is a flat bread sometimes called roti. You’ll find it in the refrigerator or freezer section; it’s the perfect accompaniment to khatte chana.

All right, then, let’s cook us up a mess. Boil some water. Cut a 1 ½ inch square of tamarind pulp, put it in a bowl, and cover it with 1 ½ cups of boiling water. Let it soak for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Cut the onion in half so you can cut semicircles of onion, then slice the onion halves real thin. Heat the ghee over medium-high heat in a large skillet or a Dutch oven. When it’s hot, add the onions and cook them, stirring occasionally, until they are well cooked, mostly golden brown but with some crispy bits. This will take 15 to 20 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the ground spices, stir through, and cook until the kitchen smells like a really good Indian restaurant. Add the tomato and grated ginger. Cook for five minutes.

The next step involves separating the liquid in which the tamarind pulp is soaking (good) from the tamarind pulp (bad). A fine-mesh strainer is perfect for the job. Pour the liquid into the skillet by passing it through the strainer, then give the pulp in the strainer a good squeeze to harvest the last of that good liquid. Stir the contents of the skillet, turn the heat to low, and let the dish simmer for 15 minutes. Add the chickpeas and cook for another 10 minutes. Salt to taste and garnish with a little fresh chopped cilantro if you like. You can make a bunch of khatte chana at one time and eat it over the next few days. You won't tire of it.

You can make chapati from scratch, but I never have. The store-bought stuff is pretty good and not at all labor intensive. Heat up a skillet (nonstick coated with a little cooking spray or a well-seasoned cast iron skillet) over medium high heat. When it’s hot, add a piece of chapatti and wait for it to start puffing up in places. Then flip it, cook it for another 30 seconds to a minute, and serve. The trick is getting the skillet the exact right heat so that the bread puffs but doesn’t burn. Practice makes perfect.