Quick, easy, low-cal, vegetarian Indian dish--Channa Masala

Last night, I made some Channa Masala, and Indian dish that contains garbanzo beans. If you enjoy the spiciness of Indian dishes, or just the taste of Indian spices, this is a winner. You can make this dish as spicy or mild as you want. It packs a fair amount of protein and fiber for a non-meat dish.

My husband is a vegetarian, so this dish is a favorite in our household. It's very low-cal, but very filling and healthy at the same time. My quick and vague instructions are as follows (I don't really measure ingredients, so sorry that it's pretty general). This makes several servings, but with yummy leftovers! You can always half the recipe pretty easily.

Ingredients:
- 2 - 3 large tomatoes (I used 2.5 large ones)
- 1 large minced onion
- 2 cloves garlic pressed
- 2 small potatoes (I've also made it without potatoes, and it's still delicious)
- 2 cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
- Garam Masala (this is a mixture of several different Indian spices. I found a bag of this at World Market for less than $2. You can look up what a typical Garam Masala mixture contains--it actually varies from brand to brand from what I've seen.)
- About 2 tbsp. lemon juice
- Cayenne pepper
- Salt
- Turmeric

Directions:

1. Chop tomatoes, onions, and potatoes.
2. Combine the tomatoes and onions in large pot with a little bit of water (I threw in maybe about a half cup, you can add more later as necessary), the garbanzo beans, lemon juice, garlic and Garam Masala. Again, I didn't measure the Garam Masala, but I'm guessing I threw in about 3 generous teaspoons.
3. Cook for a few minutes until the tomatoes start breaking down.
4. Add chopped potatoes and bring to a simmer. Stir regularly to avoid any sticking. If your mixture seems too dry, add a little bit of water. It will thicken later, so don't worry if it seems a little watery.
5. Simmer until potatoes are cooked to your liking.
6. I added salt, turmeric, and cayenne pepper to taste. That's it!

We ate it with Western Bagel Alternative Pita Bread (110 cal per pita).

It's a bit rough, but we estimated that a 1-cup serving (which is a LOT and very filling) is somewhere around 180 calories or less. It depends on the size of your potatoes, tomatoes, and onion, but the garbanzo beans we used are 110 calories per 1/2 cup serving. Our ratio of potatoes to beans was fairly close, so I'm guessing 180 is on the high end since the potatoes and beans make up the bulk of the calories.

If you give it a try, I hope you enjoy it!