Chana and Potatoes

This is one of my favorite, go-to recipes!  It's super easy and tasty - especially if you have some fresh roti skins to go with it!  I decided to make some white rice to go with it so it would be easier for my 2 year old and my husband to go with for lunch tomorrow!

I use the recipe found in the Naparima's Cookbook (if you like West Indian food - you need to get this cookbook!!!).  I tweaked the recipe a little because I didn't have enough chana (chickpeas) or potatoes so I needed to add a little more to it to make it hearty.  I decided to cut up a sweet potato and some carrots to supplement the one can of chickpeas and the 2 potatoes I had.  I also added about a quarter tin of coconut milk to the pot when adding the water.  I think the coconut milk gives it a richness that's always missing when I don't add it.

My husband also steamed a piece of breadfruit and made an easy eggplant and tomato dish to go along with it!

Here's how the Chana and Potatoes came out!

Complete plate of food: chana and potatoes, white rice and green peas, eggplant and tomatoes, and steamed breadfruit!

Adding the chickpeas at the end and stirring

Adding the potatoes and carrots to the curry mixture

Cooking the curry with some oil, onions, and garlic

Back to regular life...

We always try to clear out our fridge before leaving for vacation so that when we come back, we waste less and are ready for fresh groceries!  Part of our "coming home" routine includes the obvious unpacking, laundry, cleaning up, and grocery shopping.  I like to get fresh meats and make my green seasoning (see previous post on this) and season the meat.  I divvy the meat up into separate Ziploc bags, mark them, and place them in the freezer.  I was able to pull one of these previously frozen and seasoned chicken bags out of the freezer when we got back and make a super easy chicken dish for the fam!  I sliced up some potatoes (thinly sliced) and some onions and lined the bottom of the baking dish with them.  I sprinkled them with salt, pepper, and drizzled olive oil over them.  I laid the chicken over the potatoes and onions, also sprinkled them with salt pepper, and olive oil, and then baked it at 200 degrees Fahrenheit for about a half an hour.  I then put it under the broiler for another 10 minutes to get it crispy.  I made some basmati rice and steamed some frozen mixed vegetables on the side, and voila - dinner for tonight and lunch for tomorrow!

Here's how it turned out:

Completed Chicken and Potatoes

Seasoned chicken in labeled Ziploc bags for the freezer

Chicken with homemade green seasoning

This is my 2 year old's version of dinner tonight

My 4 month old started green peas this week!

Lunches ready for tomorrow

We also bought a few packets of Sorrel while we were in NYC this week!  Got to make our first batch to go with dinner!  For those of you who don't know what this is, it's a Hibiscus drink that West Indians make. Many people spice this differently, but we like to add cloves, orange peel, ginger, a Bay leaf, and cinnamon to it!

Here's our Sorrel to go with dinner:

A cold glass of Sorrel

The jar of Sorrel we made using 2 cups of dried Sorrel and 9 cups of water

Here's what a bag of dried Sorrel looks like

After steeping the Sorrel and spices overnight