Channa Masala

I think Channa Masala is one of my favorite Indian dishes. This recipe is currently my favorite. The flavors are complex and very interesting. Every bite is a beautiful flavor combination of spiciness, hint of lemon, slightly sweet, and much more. I found this recipe on a cooking blog called Smitten Kitchen. The creator of the blog, Deb, adapted this recipe from Madhur Jaffrey recipe. Reading some of her viewers comments, they had a couple of good suggestions to enhance this dish which I've added to this recipe.
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 medium onions, minced
1-2 clove garlic, minced, depends on how much garlic you want.
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 fresh, hot green chili pepper, minced
1 tablespoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (I used a quarter of this because my cayenne is extremely hot)
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1 tablespoon amchoor powder*
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 cups tomatoes, chopped small or 1 15-ounce can of whole tomatoes with their juices, chopped small
2/3 cup water
4 cups cooked chickpeas or 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 plain tea bag such as Lipton
1/3 Cup chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 lemon (juiced) (*; use a whole lemon to swap for the amchoor powder)
Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion, garlic, ginger and pepper and sauté over medium heat until browned, about 5 minutes. Turn heat down to medium-low and add the coriander, cumin, cayenne, turmeric, cumin seeds, amchoor (if using it), paprika and garam masala. Cook onion mixture with spiced for a minute or two, then add the tomatoes and any accumulated juices, scraping up any bits that have stuck to the pan. Add the water and chickpeas. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, then stir the cilantro, lemon juice, and salt. Place the tea bag in the middle of your skillet and cover it with some of the chickpea mixture. Let that sit for 5 minutes, covered, remove tea bag, and gently stir to combine the tea juices. Serve with rice or eat alone.