What's cooking today? Channa Masala!

I was ready to try something new today - I already knew this yesterday night and went ahead and bought the necessary missing ingredients at one of my favorite grocery stores: Henrys.



This is a follow-up recipe to my first Indian dish a little while ago and it turned out really great tasting while being vegetarian. 


I started to try out chickpeas in my recipes more since I made home-made hummus the other day. (More about this later...) So I felt really inspired by this recipe by Meg Kat that I found on her blog a little while ago. I only changed minor things:

Recipe Ingredients:
2-3 TBS vegetable oil
1.5 tsp cumin seeds
1.5 tsp onion seeds
2 16oz cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed
1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes
1 large onion, chopped
3-5 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into bite-sized chunks
3 garlic cloves, minced garlic
1″ piece of ginger, minced or grated
1/2-1 jalapeno, minced
2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp garam masala
1.5 tsp turmeric
3 C water
some milk for tastinghandful of fresh cilantro, chopped

Instructions:
Heat the oil over medium heat and add the onion seeds and cumin seeds. Saute for around 20 seconds then add the chopped onions and cook until they are lightly browned.
(Didn't have the onion seeds, but it still turned out great)
Add the ginger, garlic and jalapeno and stir fry for a minute or two.
Now add the can of diced tomatoes and stir fry for another 5 minutes, then add the spices and stir thoroughly.
Add the diced potatoes and stir well to coat in spices
Add 3 cups of water and put the lid on. Once it comes to a boil, turn down the heat a bit and let simmer for around 20 minutes to soften the potato.
Check to see that the potato chunks are soft then add the chickpeas. Stir it all up and add some milk to the pot. 
(In her original recipe it asked for a whole new cup of water, but it was fairly liquid already and so I just added a little bit of milk instead as I didn't want to water the spices down any further. I also feel like there could be a little less chickpeas, but it tasted good this way too. Next time I might try it with just one can)
Bring to a boil again and then turn the heat down to simmer for 15 minutes with the lid partially on.
Stir in some freshly chopped cilantro then turn off the heat, put the lid on tight, and let it it stand for around 15 minutes while you make some rice or warm up some bread. It’s then ready to serve!

October Wedding in Clovis, California

Yeah, it was time for a wedding again. I love weddings - oh how I love weddings. I appreciate the festivities so much more after planning my own wedding for over a year. Before I was there for the party, the food, the music and to party with the couple but now I soak everything in and enjoy every minute of it. I look for the details now and appreciate all the hard work (and money!) that was put into such a big party.

Anyway - we started our weekend trip to Fresno California with the weather for the town of Clovis saying it's 'dusty' - literally. I have never seen that before and me and the hubby had a good laugh about it. Sunglasses for sure if not a full mask or something...I have to say - I really don't like these tiny little machines with 10-20 people on it that take you to Fresno. Everything rattles and the noise changes constantly - it just makes me soo nervous. If I can't stand up straight on the plane - I'm already nervous.

The location was really stunning - right at the lake.


The couple looked so stunning and happy. The family and friends were so happy and the weather couldn't have been better in early October.

I was able to catch this pretty flower and the flag around the estate.

The picture of those fabulous 'wedding cake' cupcakes might be my favorite of the day. Is that wrong? :))

The cake topper is really cute, I remember looking at this one when we were looking for one.


The happy and very good-looking Newlyweds


The table names were countries or places that the couple has visited. We were seated at the Germany table - it could not have been better. :D


She looked really pretty in the dress - a great fit for her.


Very pretty view once the sun went down


The 'First Dance' moment is always so cute. Great picture - so emotional.


Total happiness....


After nightfall there was no holding us back. The costume box came out - what a surprise and everybody had a blast. Am I wearing 'mickey mouse ears'? I might be...


We feel partly responsible for this as the engagement happened in Switzerland in 2009 right after our wedding in Germany. Must have put them in the mood. :)