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400 gr cooked chickpeas

½ tablespoon fennel seeds

½ tablespoon cumin seeds

1 tablespoon coriander seeds

1 red chilli

1 tablespoon cardamom

½ tablespoon mustard seeds

½ tablespoon cloves

About 10 curry leaves

A pinch of  assafetida

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

2 cm fresh ginger, diced finely

1 teaspoon garam masala

2 tomatos finely diced

Black pepper

Salt

Juice of ½ lemon

1 cup water or vegetable stock

1 tablespoon Coconut oil

Coriander leaves for garnishing

 

In a small bowl mix the turmeric powder, assafetida and pepper with a couple of tablespoons hot water and set aside. In a mortar grind the fennel, cumin, coriander seeds, red chilli, cardamom, curry leaves, ginger, cloves and mustard. Heat some coconut oil in a pan, add the spices you ground in the mortar and stir for a couple of minutes. Add the mix of spices you set aside in the water and stir again. Add the chickpeas and the tomatos, salt and stir. Add enough water to prevent it to dry up (1 cup more or less). Once the chana masala becomes more creamy, remove from the heat, add the garam masala and the lemon juice and let it cool a bit before serving. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve with basmati rice.