Chick peas with tomato and onion

The general outline of this recipe came from my friend Saman whose family is from Pakistan.

Ingredients:

~3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp cumin seeds

4-5 cans of chickpeas

4 tomatoes, chopped

3 onions, chopped

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tbsp salt

~1 tsp cayenne pepper (add slowly and test for spiciness)

tamarind sauce (recipe below)

Tamarind Sauce:

1 tbsp tamarind sauce (at Whole Foods)

4 1/2 cups water

bunch of crushed red pepper

1 tsp salt

4 tbsp sugar

Rice:

3 boil-in-bag rice

1 tbsp butter (optional)

~ teaspoon lemon pepper

pinch of garlic powder, salt

Start with the tamarind sauce. Bring the water to a boil and add all the ingredients. This needs to boil down for about an hour. After about a half an hour, start the chickpeas.

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add cumin seeds (seeds should sizzle so test one first). Let them sizzle until they start to brown and then add the chick peas. Fry the chick peas for about 5 minutes.

2. Add everything else! Start a pot of water to boil the rice for 10 minutes.

3. Cook on high heat for about 20-25 minutes and then add about half of the tamarind sauce, which should be down to about a half a cup. Reduce to medium heat and cook for about another 20-25 minutes, depending on how mushy you want the chickpeas to be. Add the rest of the tamarind sauce during that time. They should cook until there isn't any liquid anymore, stirring periodically the entire time.