based on a yummy dinner...

[chhotii]

The rice: Salt the rice. Butter not needed. Put plenty of peas and cashews in the rice. One cup of rice (uncooked) is enough to pair with one large can of chick peas. Never cook more than one cup of rice at any given time, because channa masala endures as a leftover (even frozen, see other notes) a lot better than rice.

Brands of canned chick peas vary in crunchiness. Getting the crunchy kinds and waiting for the channa masala to simmer long enough to soften them up is a waste of time. The Market Basket store brand must start off pretty soft, because cooking with those was quick and easy. Use a pre-salted brand so they don't have bland interiors even with brief simmering. You might need all the can liquid, don't drain any down the sink until done.

Cut up the garlic cloves. Crush when softened up in the sauce. Lots of garlic.

Normally I just use one tomato per batch. But during tomato season, when tomatoes are ripe and yummy, more tomatoes is not a bad thing.

Whole spices (add first to oil): cinnamon stick, cumin seeds, cloves, one cardamom pod. Use only one cardamom pod per batch so it's easy to fish out.

Ground spices (add towards end of cooking): The essentials: cumin, coriander, turmeric. Also salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, oregano. Also (possibly): ginger, red pepper flakes, cloves. This came out well without any pre-mixed curry powder, garam masala, or chili powder. Didn't add, but could try adding: powdered cinnamon, fennel seeds, fenugreek? On-line recipes sometimes include amchur (powdered mango). Hmm. Should try that.

Use a light hand with the turmeric! This might not turn out as vividly yellow as restaurant Indian food, but I think over-use of turmeric has led to the bitterness problem in the past.