Chickpea-Spinach Medley

I rummaged in my fridge and found that I had a jar of chickpeas that have been calling out to me to be eaten, and a few beautiful, juicy tomatoes. I thought about the most obvious but not so easy option of making a chana dish, but for the lack of many key spices and ingredients including black tea, I had to keep thinking. I also fished out some frozen spinach from my freezer, and decided to add it to the mix. The following dish is what I came up with. It's heady flavors and spices warm up the soul, it's hearty and fully satisfying. You can have it with some cumin spiked rice or some chapatis (Indian flatbread). You could even pour it over some fluffy couscous.

Ingredients:

Note: I used frozen spinach since that's what I had lying around. I find that it's a good substitute for the fresh variety since it can be stored forever, it often comes in one-serving portions and it doesn't compromise on the flavor. However, if you have fresh spinach leaves, chop them coarsely and add them to this recipe. It will give a wonderful silky texture to the dish.

1 jar cooked chickpeas (or if using dried chickpeas, soak overnight and cook them until tender)
3 tomatoes, diced
1 cup tomato puree
400 grams frozen spinach (2 cups if using fresh spinach leaves, chopped)
3 garlic pods, minced
2 small or 1 medium sized onion, chopped finely
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp red chili powder or paprika powder
1 tsp garam masala (combination of various Indian spices, easily found in most grocery stores with an international spice aisle, or in specialty Asian stores)
2 tsp toasted and ground cumin
juice of half a lemon
2 tbps vegetable oil or sunflower oil
salt to taste

Preparation:

Heat the oil in a deep-rimmed pan. Add the cumin, and once it's roasted, add the garlic and the onions.
P.S. I think the smell of sauteing garlic and onions is one of the best smells in the world. It instantly makes me drool (which is not so great when I'm cooking!) but also elicits a "oh wow, what are you cooking remark from my husband?"

Mix the garam masala and red chili powder together in a small bowl and add 2 tablespoons of water to make it into a liquid paste. As soon as the onions begin to soften and turn translucent, add this mixture to the pan and stir in with the onions. This is a nifty trick I learned from my mother - adding some water to the spices before putting them in the hot oil prevents them from burning as soon as they touch the pan. You definitely don't want spices to burn since they smell acrid, make you cough and ofcourse make the food almost inedible.

Once the onion-spice mixture is cooked for a couple of minutes and is fragrant, add the chopped tomatoes and the tomato puree. The mixture of the two types of tomatoes gives it a hearty, sweet and rich flavor all at once. Add the chickpeas and the spinach in the sauce and flavor with the toasted and ground cumin, salt and the lemon juice. The toasted cumin gives it a heady, earthy flavor, which is what makes this dish.

Add some water if you think the dish is too thick, cover the pan and let it simmer on low heat for as long as you have patience. The more you simmer it, the more the flavors develop and the more taste the chickpeas can soak in. Keep stirring from time to time to check the consistency and the flavor. Add more of any spice if needed, and add more water if needed. You can keep it as thick or runny as you want.
Enjoy it heaped over rice or as an accompaniment to some hot, fluffy chapatis.