I usually begin thinking about what I'm going to make for dinner while working out at the gym. This is a time when my brain isn't being particularly challenged and when my stomach begins its rumblings -- a marriage of circumstances really. And so it came to be that during a set of bicep curls, I knew I had to have chana masala (Indian curried garbanzo beans) when I got home.
I've made this a number of times, each with a different recipe. I think this one was the most successful, although the recipe calls for far too much tamarind. (Or perhaps it's because I used concentrate rather than extract -- oops.) Fortunately, I used only 1/4 of the prescribed amount and although I would use less next time, the dish still came out rather well.
Of course, one of the best things about cooking at home is the ability to crank up the heat. When eating out, I'm always complaining about two things: 1) lack of salt and 2) lack of spiciness. Being a lover of savory, salty, spicy foods, this causes me to be a great minority in this country of bland-loving diabetics. So what a pleasure it is to cook food just the way one likes it; in this case: so spicy that fire comes out one's ears.