Tired of the usual delivery options, I rummaged around the fridge to find anything I could throw together for a quick and hearty meal.

Noticing some chicken thighs in the freezer and some left over home-made pasta sauce, I thought of throwing the two together. The obvious answer was pasta. But in the mood for something more reminiscent of mom’s cooking, I found a can of red beans and immediately thought of rajma chawal. While the traditional recipe doesn’t call for marinara sauce or chicken, I figured I could make amake something that used all these ingredients and yet came close. The result was something close to the Moroccan tagine recipe I posted a little while back.

Serves 2:

Defrost the chicken thighs (approx 1lb) in a microwave. While the chicken defrosts, heat up a 12″ skillet with some olive oil. Chop up 3 cloves of garlic and half a red onion into medium sized chunks. Add the onions to the hot skillet along with a teaspoon of garam masala, a teaspoon of cumin powder and a teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Add in the minced garlic and let the aromatics cook for a couple minutes.

Season the chicken with some salt and pepper and another teaspoon of garam masala. Toss it in the skillet and let the chicken brown on medium heat (about 3-4 minutes each side). Toss in the tomato sauce (about a cup and a half) and the can of red beans. Add a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of cumin. Turn heat to low and let simmer for about 15-20 minutes.

Remove from heat, chop up a few sprigs of cilantro and serve over rice.