Punjabi Chana Masala

From the garden

• 1½ cups dried chickpeas, picked over and rinsed · soaked overnight in step 1; canned will not give the same gravy
• 2 medium yellow onions, finely chopped
• 3 medium ripe tomatoes, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 hot green chiles, slit lengthwise
• 1 tsp fresh turmeric, grated (optional) · or 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped

From the pantry

• ½ tsp baking soda · goes in the soaking water; it softens the seed and loosens the skins
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 tbsp neutral oil
• 1 lemon · juice only, added off the heat
• 1½ cups long-grain rice · cooked, for serving; warm flatbread also works
• salt · to taste
• black pepper

1. Cover the chickpeas with 3 inches of cold water, stir in the baking soda, and soak overnight or at least 8 hours. Drain and rinse well, then throw the soaking water away: it carries the sugars behind most legume indigestion.
2. Bring the drained chickpeas to a hard rolling boil in fresh unsalted water with the bay leaf, boil 10 minutes, then drop the heat and simmer 60 to 90 minutes until one crushes to cream with no chalk in the middle. Raw and undercooked chickpeas cause real stomach upset, so cook well past firm and give an older harvest longer. Drain, saving 2 cups of the cooking liquid, and discard the bay leaf.
3. Heat the oil in a wide pan over medium and cook the onions 10 to 12 minutes, stirring often, until deep golden rather than merely soft. This browning is where the color of the gravy comes from.
4. Add the garlic, ginger, and green chiles for 1 minute, then the cumin, chili powder, and turmeric for 30 seconds until they smell toasted, not scorched. Tip in the tomatoes with a good pinch of salt and cook 8 minutes, pressing them down, until the masala thickens and the oil separates at the edges.
5. Fold in the chickpeas with 1.5 cups of the reserved cooking liquid and simmer 15 to 20 minutes. Crush a spoonful of chickpeas against the side of the pan partway through, which thickens the gravy without any flour.
6. Finish off the heat with the lemon juice and most of the cilantro, taste for salt and pepper, and serve over rice with the rest of the cilantro on top.