Once I hated Indian food, then I tried Aloo Chana...

Back in Berkeley Andy and Tristan found the Dollar Curry House. Andy raved about it-- and at the time, I absolutely hated Indian food. It's just so-- bold! But I went there with him and enjoyed it, but it wasn't really my favorite thing ever. [[Although, if you love lentil soup, they have really bomber lentil soup there.]]

Then, a few weeks ago, after a gig in Dayton, Andy insisted that we make a stop in Cincinnati to get this Indian food he missed so much-- a restaurant called Amol. Apprehensively, I went, hoping to convince myself that it was really amazing. I tried Aloo Chana for the first time, and it was amazing; ultimately, it has left me with the desire to never be without it, so I hunted online for a recipe. And although it could never compare to the sweet goodness of Amol, it was pretty tasty.

So, Aloo Chana is pretty much just chickpeas and potatoes. It doesn't have any tomato flavor at all, which made me shocked to find out that was the base of the sauce. It's going to look funny before it looks right, but just trust the recipe.



The basic recipe I found online:
* 2-3 Tbsp olive oil
* Cumin seeds [[didn't use it]]
* 1 medium onion (chopped) [[used a red onion]]
* 3-4 cloves of garlic (chopped or crushed) [[I used 5 or 6-- but I love garlic]]
* 1-2 tomatoes to taste, chopped
* 2 Tbsp tomato sauce [[just tomato puree, nothing else]]
* 2 cans of chickpeas
* 2 large potatoes cut into cubes (can pre-cook it for speed)
** My altered spice assortment [do it all to taste]: cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, red pepper, garam masala, paprika, chili powder (not very Indian, but I like the spicy flavor), some hot sauce [[again not very Indian, but it made it spicy-- I don't know how they do it otherwise!]]

Heat oil, throw a few cumin seeds in to test temperature, fry onions and garlic until soft and brown (but not burnt).
Add tomatoes, spices and salt and stir.
Add tomato sauce, chickpeas, and potato. Cook until potato it's not necessary]]

<3