Indian Red Lentil and Chickpea Stew

In today's WIAW post I mentioned that I would post a recipe of my lunch:

While the photo may not be awe inspiring, I assure you this recipe is worthy of your admiration and appetite.  It's a spicy, flavorful, and a bright way to shake off your January blues.

It was created from an amalgamation of various Indian recipes I have tried over the past couple of months.  I actually made a dish similar to this one lazy afternoon, but stupidly failed to write down my creation.  This time I made sure not to make the same mistake and took meticulous notes.

Ingredients

1 med yellow onion, diced medium

1 jalapeno, diced small (seeded if you like)

1 tbsp ginger, grated or minced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tbsp canola oil

1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes

2.5 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock)

1 cup red lentils

1-2 cups cooked chickpeas 

1/2 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp madras curry powder

1/4 tsp turmeric

1/8 tsp cayenne

salt to taste ( I used about 1 tsp)

Directions

1.  In a large sauce pan or deep frying pan heat up the canola oil over medium heat.  Add the onion and allow to soften slightly, then add the jalapeno and ginger.  Cook a few more minutes, until onions are soft, and add the garlic and cook an additional minute.

2.  Next add the tomatoes and their juices.  Allow the tomatoes to cook for about 5 minutes until they have released more of their juices.  Now add the chicken stock, lentils, spices, and 1/2 tsp of salt.  Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer and let cook 15-20 minutes until lentils are almost done. 

3. Add the chickpeas and simmer an additional 5-10 minutes until lentils reach desired consistency.  Salt to taste.

I served mine with brown basmati rice; it's slightly springy texture was a nice contrast to the soft lentils and chickpeas.  If you've only ever had short grain brown rice, I insist that you try one of it's long grain cousins.  I find that it is less nutty and chewy, and they're an overall more relatable replacement for white rice.

Happy hump day!