Chickpea Curry

Here is another delicious curry to share with you.
I have three Chickpea Curries I make often, and another couple to try if I fancy them!
In some ways this is the most inappropriate one to share because it includes ingredients like asafoetida, tamarind and chaat masala, that aren't so well known in the West. But O it is a delicious curry. The first time I made it I wrote 'Such yummy sauce!' beside the recipe in my book.

Also, this is the one I made recently, so I have a photo! And another good thing to share is that I froze half of it, and it defrosted and warmed up scrumptiously. This makes it precious in my household where there is only me to feed!

It is also good to consider what a treat it might be on a YamDaisy Menu, a delicious curry that you might not make yourself, but would be delighted to eat every time it is served at the YamDaisy Cafe.

CHANA MASALA (That pretty well means Chick Pea Curry!)

250g chickpeas, soak and cook, reserving liquid (= 2 cans of chickpeas)
2 tsp tamarind paste soaked in hot water and when cool put through a sieve to get a thick puree

Roughly chop and then blend to a paste:
1 large onion
2 garlic cloves,
2-3 cm fresh ginger
1 green chili
Now heat 2/3 cup of oil and gently fry the onion mixture until golden brown

Add
1 tbsp ground cumin,
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp chili powder
a pinch of asafoetida
stir for a minute, and then take the pan off the heat and carefully add
2 tbsp of thick yoghurt,

1 tbsp garam masala,
stir until it is completely mixed in and then back on the heat gradually add
3 cups of reserved water from cooking the chickpeas (or just water!) and bring to a simmer

Add the tamarind paste,
the chickpeas
half a lemon (the whole thing, not just the juice!)
3 green chillies (also whole)
Simmer 30 minutes and remove the lemon. If the sauce isn't thick, keep simmering until it is.

Stir in
2 tsp chaat masala
1/4 tsp garam masala

I have adapted the recipe from a book called "Food of India" and this day I served it with rice, beans (a favourite lately!), chopped tomatoes and lots of fresh coriander. Absolutely delicious!

Take 2

This is Jan's Chickpea Curry and Steaming Rice Take Two!

Jan's Menu for the YamDaisy Cafe is:
SOUP: Hearty Pea and Ham with Crusty Wholemeal Bread
1ST MAIN: Chickpea Curry and Rice
2ND MAIN: Lambs Fry and Bacon with steamed Potato, Carrots and Broccoli
FRUIT DESSERT: Baked Apples filled with Sultanas and Dried Apricot and served with Greek Yoghurt.

Yesterday I put up a post with a Chickpea Curry recipe, but I have to admit that I knew there was more information from Jan about her idea and I couldn't find it.
Somewhere I had her Chickpea Curry recipe, and somewhere else I had the notes of a discussion we had about rice.
I did find the notes about the rice: Turmeric Rice.
O dear, I couldn't edit my post because Turmeric Rice with a Saffron Infused Chickpea Curry just is wrong!
Then Jan kindly resent me her recipe.
Instead of feeling ashamed of my disorganisation, I will celebrate with this Take 2 Blog just how wonderfully different are these two ways to serve Chickpea Curry and Rice, Enjoy!
(And the Lamb's Fry one will be coming next!)

JAN'S CHICKPEA CURRY - with help from her lovely granddaughter Melanie!
"I fried up an onion, a couple of garlic teeth, and a nice knob of fresh ginger,
added and stir fried the carrot and broccoli,
added in the red pepper,
then the precooked chickpeas,
and a bottle of chunky garden vegetable pasta sauce,
and let it simmer for 5 or 10 minutes.
I think I added some black pepper that Melanie had ground up for me too."

TURMERIC RICE
When I asked about rice to serve with the Chickpea Curry Jan immediately suggested Turmeric Rice, because of its beautiful colour and flavour, but also because of the nutritious properties associated with it.
Turmeric contains curcumin, a nutrient researchers are interested in for its anti inflammatory properties and the use it may be in fighting cancer and Alzheimer's disease.
As part of my Take 2 on this menu dish, I made Turmeric Rice taday, which is why there is a photo to go with the blog!
A lot of spiced rices are called Turmeric Rice, I guess because its colour is so assertive. But i chose a very simple rice to accompany the robust curry.

1 cup basmati rice, washed and drained.
1 tbsp oil (I make one teaspoon of it ghee for added deliciousness) heat in a small saucepan
1 small onion finely sliced, fry gently until transparent.
1/2 tsp of turmeric (any more can start tasting bitter) - add
Then add the drained rice and a good pinch of salt
Cover with water: (in my saucepan I cover it by about a centimetre) and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10 minutes, then turn off the heat.
Place a clean, folded, teatowel over the top of the pan, put the lid on top and let it steam for another 10 minutes.

The rice should then be soft and a little bit glossy and glowing a gentle gold. The flavour is very subtle, the only way I can describe it is to say it has a comforting taste. Delicious, and comforting!

Eat your way to good health!

Jan's Menu

Wonderful Jan has provided a menu for the YamDaisy Cafe Project.
The YamDaisy daily menu consists of just four choices to please its customers. A soup, two mains, and a fruit based dessert. The menu is seasonal, delicious and cooked from scratch. Find more about YamDaisy menus here.
This is the last of this years Winter Menus, after all, it is Spring here now! But we have had wintry weather the last few days, so this menu would be most welcome! (And it was during Winter that Jan gave me her menu!)
SOUP: Hearty Pea and Ham with Crusty Wholemeal Bread
1ST MAIN: Chickpea Curry and Rice
2ND MAIN: Lambs Fry and Bacon with steamed Potato, Carrots and Broccoli
FRUIT DESSERT: Baked Apples filled with Sultanas and Dried Apricot and served with Greek Yoghurt.

Part One

PEA AND HAM SOUP WITH CRUSTY WHOLEMEAL BREAD
Jan chose this because it is such a satisfying meal, it is easy to make and it reheats well for those people want it for takeaway to have later.
Pea and Ham soup is a classic, and may well be one of those dishes for a prize: Best YamDaisy Pea and Ham Soup! Imagine the battle as different chefs present the Pea and Ham Soup that stars with their customers which one gets the prize for that year!

CHICKPEA CURRY WITH RICE
Yum! There are so many chickpea curries, I have several favourites in my books. I have also, quite recently, discovered just how lucky we are in Australia to have beautiful large fresh chickpeas grown up by the Ord River in the Kimberleys. They are delicious and notably easier to cook. But, ofcourse, any chickpea is delicious with its comforting, nutty, satisfying flavour. The stew I made (so that I could illustrate this post!) is based on a Moroccan Recipe called "The Chicken that flew". The idea is that this is what you make if you haven't got chicken.
This is such a great dish for the YamDaisy Cafe, tasty, conforting, and full of all the norurishing things to keep people going through the day. It is a straightforward recipe for the Chef/Manager and would please most people with food restrictions.
Here is the recipe for trying at home:
150g (1 cup) of dried chickpeas, soaked
Boil in a litre of water with a pinch of crushed saffron filiments until just cooked: 35 minutes, or 8 minutes in a pressure cooker.
Add a medium onion, sliced,
500g of cubed vegetables: sweet potato, potato, carrots
2 tbsp of olive oil
2 tsp of spice mix: I use Ras Al Hanout but you could use your favourite curry powder and also as much as you want. Infact, this is delicious without the extra spices.
Salt to taste.
Stir and simmer a further 15 minutes or so until the vegetables are cooked (sweet corn can be addeed five minutes before the finish) and the water has evaporated to leave a lovely gravy.
Serve sprinkled with chopped coriander on steaming rice.

Part 2 of Jan's menu is coming next and will cover her final two dishes.