Long Breaks, Busy Days, and Quick Indian Meals

I've been at this whole blog thing for almost seven years now.

Seven years!

So much has changed in my life since then.

Seven years ago I was pretty new at being a stay-at-home mom.

I had a baby.

I certainly didn't imagine that present-day Nora would be back in school and taking math classes and working her tail off to keep everything in balance.

Yet, here we are, seven years later, living a life that looks very different than it did when I started this blog.

Which pretty much explains why it's April and I haven't posted since December!

So you know...Happy New Years!  Hope your 2019 has been fabulous thus far!

Anyway, it's a beautiful, sunny Saturday and I'm...exhausted.

I do not want to do anything today.

Like...for real.

I'm so tired, and totally doing the bare minimum right now.

That being said, even on days when you're only accomplishing as little as possible, the family has to eat.  I had already decided to make a dish called "chole" this weekend and since it seemed simple and I had the ingredients on hand I decided to go for it.

The fact that I haven't written anything in four months and here I am typing away on my do-nothing Saturday should tell you just how enamored I am of this dish.

It is so fabulous

Loaded with flavor, simply delicious.

But even better?

It came together so quickly and easily that the rice with which I served it took longer to cook than it did!

I love Indian flavors.  There is such a complexity and depth that I just adore.  This is a vegetarian dish that has all of those flavors- and because it's made with canned chickpeas there is only the shortest of cook times.  Throw in tomato sauce, onion, garlic, and a handful of flavorful spices and you have a delicious meal.  I served mine over white rice, but this would be perfect with naan too!

This dish is all the reason I need to keep chickpeas in the pantry- and just for the record, I'm totally making it again for lunch tomorrow.

Chole

From Allrecipes.com

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 small onion, diced

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp minced fresh ginger root (or 1/2 tsp ground ginger)

2 star anise pods, broken into pieces (or 1/2 tsp Chinese Five Spice)

1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce

1/2 C water

1 tsp chile powder

1 tsp garam masala

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 tsp ground cumin

3/4 tsp ground coriander

1/4 tsp ground turmeric

1 whole clove, or more to taste

1. Heat oil in a pot over medium-high heat. Saute onion until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, and anise; stir. Add chickpeas, tomato sauce, water, chile powder, garam masala, salt, cumin, coriander, turmeric, and clove. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until chickpeas start to soften, 5 to 7 minutes.

2. Mash some of the chickpeas directly in the pot to give the sauce a chunkier consistency. Cover and continue simmering, stirring occasionally, until flavors come together, about 15 minutes. Remove star anise pieces and clove before serving.