Gayathri Athreya’s Chana Masala

Gaillardia pulchella, or Indian blanket, shares the colors of red chile and tumeric, and is more photogenic than a typical garbanzo bean.

Ingredients

    * 4 cans Garbanzo Beans (or dried beans soaked overnight and then boiled)
    * 1 large can Tomato Puree (~ 2 cups)
    * 3 medium Onions (finely chopped)
    * 4 cloves minced Garlic (optional as per taste)
    * 1 Tablespoon minced fresh Ginger
    * 2 Green Chilies chopped, or a small can

    * 4 tomatoes (chopped)
    * Salt to taste
    * 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric powder
    * 1½ teaspoon Red Chili Powder
    * 2 teaspoon Coriander powder
    * 8 teaspoon Vegetable Oil / Extra Virgin Olive Oil
    * 1Tablespoon Garam Masala Powder
    * 2 Tablespoon of Chana Masala Powder (optional)*
    * 1/2 teaspoon Cumin Seeds

  serve with:
    * Cilantro (coriander leaves)
    * 1 small Onion (thin rings or chopped)
    * Tomato (sliced in Rings or chopped)

   1. Soak the garbanzo beans (chana/chole) overnight or just used canned garbanzo beans.
   2. Boil Chole/Chana in a pressure cooker/microwave till they become soft.
   3. On Medium Low Heat, Heat the Pan first and add oil.
   4. When oil is ready add cumin seed, minced Garlic and Ginger.

   5. Breath deeply (Gayathri doesn't require this step, but it is well-advised)
   6. Add chopped Onions and add a pinch of Salt and fry till they turn brown

        (Adding salt while frying Onions makes it quicker to fry Onions)
   7. Add spices, cook until onions are brown.

   8. Add Pureed tomatoes and fry till the oil floats on top. Add a little oil and check if it floats.
   9. Add chopped Green Chilies and fresh tomatoes
  10. Add Chole/Chana into the Pan without water and stir so that it gets mixed up well.
  11. Add a little water.
  12. Cook the Chole/Chana with gravy for 8-12 minutes until gravy dries a bit (but Chana or Masala should not burn).
  13. Garnish with Coriander Leaves (cilantro) and ring Onions and Tomato.
  14. Serve with Puris, Parathas, Chapatis or Rice.

*Its good thing Gayathri notes Chana Masala Powder is optional, as I haven’t a clue what it is. Penzeys spices carries Garam Masala Powder, I just double that and carry on.

I work in a government science lab.  Our building has that special 1950’s laboratory ambiance -- nothing quite like it. A temporary building meant to be bulldozed decades ago, it has the duct tape holding down the worn bits of carpet, acoustic ceiling tiles that have that “I am made of asbestos” look to them.  Florescent lights that sometimes buzz and sometimes flicker. Heaters that fail in the winter, we shiver through our work and have been known to compute with our winter gloves on, and air conditioners that collapse in the summer when our computers are running hot. We have inspirational safety and security posters thumb-tacked up that haven’t been changed for years, becoming almost invisible; you have too look twice fast to see them or they disappear, a brief flicker of an admonition  “Don’t trip, wears shoes that grip”.  Coffee rooms with no inviting couches, no table, no young souls tacking up a shared poster of a Van Gogh to catch the eye, no ancient Farsides taped to the cupboards**: just a narrow space with a chipped dark orange Formica counter top and industrial size trash bin located right between the fridge and the microwave.

So why do I like it there, my home away from home?  The people.  Rocket scientists?  Well actually, yes, its likely there are some rocket scientists among them.  A socially awkward but sometimes dazzling bunch, some speak differential equations as their mother tongue, some speak C++, others would actually rather not speak at all, just let them focus on their computer screens, if you please. Some live in probability space, some hang out evolutionary trajectories, some linger in dynamical models. My people. Occasionally someone noticeably different infiltrates this world of ours, like a bit of light, and we are drawn like moths to the flame.  Gayathri was such a person. 10X alive. Her laughter would roll down the hallway in a sweet frolic like cool rain in a draught.  Her office door sometimes had a line outside it, nerd folk waiting their turn to take the chair opposite to her desk, to be listened to, teased, comforted, brought back into a state of good cheer, made strong enough by her warmth to resume their places and go back to leaning into their computer screens, peering, working, thinking...  Gayathri nurtured those around her, kept us political, balanced, social. Not that she didn’t do her own share of peering into computer screens; she is after all a programmer. Gayathri also is a cook.  Part of that whole nurturing thing, right along with the radiant smile, the chronically cheerful state, the focus (rare among modern homo sapiens) that made it clear she was listening, and of course, her Way with Garbanzo Beans.  The group picnics and potlucks were favored with her dishes.  Spice, fragrance, warmth, of course Gayathri cooked with those as her primary ingredients.  We all left those little picnics feeling uplifted, not always understanding that it was the second helping of chana masala served with Gayathri’s smile behind it that had lifted us to a higher plane.

Gayathri moved to Tucson Arizona, where her husband works and teaches, and we miss her here – I miss her. But she left me with some recipes. Before I start cooking, I first get out all of the spices, and line them up on the counter.  Sometime I grind them in mortar and pestle and the sweet spice smell bursts out and fills the kitchen.  Her “gravy” is exotic and fine, a good reminder that life is a wonderful thing; the fragrance offers a hint of India and of her lovely messenger, Gayathri.

Sangathil paadatha by Ilayaraja

**The missing Farside: