a paki supper at thirty-two

channa masala, rice and aloo tikki's

c spent a night with us at thirty-two. the last time we met was in twenty o eight when she was in town to attend our graduation from the lse. now she is back in boston. much has happened since. i got married, she signed up to a long-term position at work, we both lost a lot of weight and crossed over the mid-twenties. but a lot has stayed the same. we're still nerdy, we still get excited about talking about human rights and we still love eating channa masala. so in honour of her i made my mum's recipe for channa masala and the spice spoon's aloo tiki (pakistani potato cutlets). on the side i made a coriander-mint yoghurt to soothe over the chilli i added to the channa's and aloo tiki. i served it with steamed basmati rice and geeta's mango chutney. 

{ilona's channa masala}

cooking oil

two tins channa's (chickpeas), drained but reserve the liquid

1 medium onion, finely chopped.

1 large bayleaf

4 tomatoes (i used plum tomatoes)

1-2 tablespoons masoor daal (red lentils)

4 cloves garlic (you can use more)

1" piece ginger

1 tsp kalonji seeds (also known as nigella/onion seeds)

dhara mirch (red chili flakes), between half and three quarter teaspoon

quarter teaspoon haldi (turmeric)

kala zeera (black cumin seeds)

salt to taste

coriander, roughly chopped to garnish

fry the onion very gently in oil until it is golden and caramelised. this takes over ten minutes. when you see the onion just beginning to colour add the bay leaf. it won't burn, you can fry it for over five or even ten min and it will be fine. 

put the next four ingredients into the blender and process them. (you can do this before or while you are frying the onions)

into the golden brown onions throw the kalonji, dhara mirch and haldi. give them five to ten seconds, no more otherwise the haldi will burn, and then pour in the processed tomatoes etc. keep frying over medium to low heat, until the oil separates. then add a little water (what we call a chatta of pani) and fry again. do this several times to take the rawness out of the masoor ki daal.

once that is done add the channa's and fry a bit, then add the reserved channa tin liquid.

when all this comes to the boil, simmer covered over low heat until the channa's are flavoured. you can adjust the gravy by evaporating or adding more liquid. sprinkle over the kala zeera two or three minutes before taking off the heat. 

when serving garnish with coriander leaves. i should have added some julienned ginger too but o isn't a huge fan of ginger so i left it at that. 

for the aloo tiki's i used 'the spice spoon's' recipe adding a generous pinch of turmeric. my mum suggested this to give the mixture a bit of colour. i also substituted the coriander with thinly sliced spring onions and coated the tiki's in breadcrumbs like my mother used to do before frying them. they weren't perfect as the potatoes i bought were too floury so i suspect i may have a bit of experimentation to do before i get this right given the variety of potatoes in britain. 

c had bought a fantastic bottle of tattinger rose champagne which we had to drink out of wine glasses as i have perennial bad luck with buying champagne glasses as john lewis is always out of stock when i go. note to self, place an order online!