Hot beans

I'm on my own this weekend. I find it hard to get too excited about cooking for just me, especially since I'll eat pretty much whatever I can catch. But one of my favorite solo weekend foods is Pindi Chane, or Chole.

It's a pretty simple dish, but there are a ton of variations on it. Essentially, it's chickpeas, onion, garlic, ginger, hot pepper, coriander, and garam masala, served over basmati rice. It's "peasant food, " like most of the Indian dishes I love best (including dall, aloo gobi, and paneer), but done right, it's quick, easy, and cheap, and really, really good.

Laura's Chole for non-Desis

2 cans chickpeas (aka garbanzos)
1 medium red onion, minced
1 serrano pepper, minced
3 tbsps veggie oil (think canola, not olive)
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp red (cayenne) pepper
1 cup water, give or take
Dash salt
Non-fat plain yogurt
Na'an


Chop the onion and serrano fine.
Put the oil in a medium saucepan. Add the garlic and ginger paste. Heat on the higher end of medium heat. (Purists say don't add the paste till the oil's hot, but that kicks up a hot oil splashback, and it doesn't taste any better. So take the easy way out here.) STIR.
After a minute to brown the paste, add the onion. Stir well.
Cook for seven minutes.
Push the onions aside and tilt the pan to get some oil in the clear.
Drop the serrano in the oil. Let it simmer for a minute.
Add the spices. Let them simmer for a minute, too, then stir into the onions.
Add the two cans of beans and 1 cup water. Stir well. Simmer for *at least* fifteen minutes.
Near the end, use a spoon to mash some beans against the side of the pan to thicken up the sauce.

Notes:

• If you don't have paste, you can chop fresh ginger and garlic instead. But paste is fast, cheap, and keeps a long time. Recommended.
• There are a lot of boxed spice mixes in your local Indian grocery for this particular dish. You can always throw some in if you have it.
• A whole clove or two adds a nice touch - but don't break a tooth on it later.
• I like to simmer this for at least a half-hour at the end, stirring frequently. When it starts looking low or sticking to the bottom, add a little more water.
• This is pretty spicy. If you like milder food, you may want to seed the serrano or leave it out entirely, or cut back on the cayenne.

Serve over basmati or jasmine rice, with plenty of nonfat plain yogurt (the Indian version of sour cream) to cut the burn.

I usually make it with na'an (yummy Indian bread you can buy at your local Indian grocery or Trader Joes) and a spinach side salad, and a crisp white wine.