Creamy chickpea and halloumi skillet dinner

Cheat the clock with this vegetarian dish inspired by the flavors of tikka masala that uses shortcuts for both time and flavor!

Take me to the recipe!

It’s January! That means we can’t binge eat cookie dough for dinner anymore.

I KID! Heartburn is my constant companion lately, so poor eating is much less appealing. That said, I’m feeling pretty great this pregnancy. I am, however, exhausted by 5 pm, so easy dinners that don’t require a lot of prep or cleanup and that cook super fast are at the top of our meal rotation. And I’m looking for shortcuts EVERYWHERE.

There’s absolutely nothing “authentic” about this tikka masala-inspired dish, but it’s so easy and so good, that I can overlook it just the once. The flavors recall your favorite takeout and the halloumi adds a tangy, salty bite.

I normally shy away from recipes that “cheat” with jarred sauces, but I’m making an exception in the interest of time. Rao’s is by far our favorite jarred sauce, but the first time I made this, I was trying to use up another jarred sauce that we didn’t like. It’s great either way.

A couple of tips:

• Be sure to cook the spices with the onions and garlic before you add the tomato sauce or cream. Since this dish cooks fast, you need to deepen the flavors by giving the spices a quick sear.

• Speaking of cream, don’t forget to let it warm up while you make the rest of the recipe. Adding cold dairy to hot tomato sauce can make the cream curdle. It’ll still taste fine, but the dairy will look like little beads in your tomato sauce instead of mixing together completely.

• You might notice that there’s not a lot of salt in this recipe. Since we’re using jarred sauce and really salty cheese, I recommend waiting until the end to add salt if it’s necessary.

• Garam masala may not already in your spice rack, but it should be! It’s available all over the place and is really just a mixture of familiar spices that you might not have on hand. Try some!

• Wait until the last minute to add the chickpeas because putting them in the sauce too early will soften them too much.

• Finally, if you can’t find haloumi or if it’s too expensive, feel free to sub in farmer’s cheese, feta, cojita, queso blanco, or any other salty cheese. If using another type of cheese, no need to cook it beforehand, just add it to the tomato, cream, and chick pea mixture right before serving.

Chickpea and haloumi tikka masala

Yield: 4 grown-up servings
Time: about 35 minutes, all active

1 large can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1-2 Tbsp butter, ghee, or oil of choice
½ large onion minced
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2½ tsp garam masala
2 tsp cumin
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp turmeric
2 cups jarred tomato sauce (about 24 oz)
½ cup cream or half and half
Haloumi, sliced
Naan or flatbread for serving

Preheat the oven to 400.

Pour the half and half or cream and set aside to warm up.

Wash and drain the chickpeas and dry them off lightly with a paper towel. Toss with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast until crispy, about 20 minutes.

While the chickpeas cook, heat the butter, ghee or oil over medium high heat in a large skillet. Add the onions and cook until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.

Add the spices and cook, stirring to mix well, for 2-3 more minutes until fragrant.

Add the tomato sauce, mix well, and turn the flame up to high. Let the sauce come to a boil and turn the heat off.

Heat a small skillet over a high flame until a few drops of water bubble immediately when they hit the skillet. Add the cheese and sear until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Flip and repeat on the other side. Turn the skillet off and set aside.

Check the chickpeas for crispness.

Mix the chickpeas and cream into the tomato sauce. Test for salt, keeping in mind that the haloumi is quite salty. Top with the seared haloumi.