Fueled with enthusiasm by my alphabetical spice collection, I am reverting to the recipes of my 20s. Eons ago, fueled with naivity and the complete absence of jobs for arts graduates under Thatcher, when I worked in N Africa and had to reinvent my whole way of eating, I owned one cook book. Madhur Jaffrey's Eastern Vegetarian Food. I cooked my way through that book and one of my favourite dishes was her Very Spicy Delicious Chickpeas. There are a few things I cooked then which I have never cooked again but this has remained a staple for 30 years. Oddly, I haven't cooked it much in the last ten years, but since there are only two of us at home right now, and I often find myself cooking solo meals with the other ones social whirl and shift work, I cooked it tonight. My former husband used to call this "spicy, but delicious" and the name has stuck.
- 1 onion finely chopped (these days I often whizz it in my mini blender when it is going to form the base of a sauce and that is what I did)
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
- oil
Fry onion in oil over low heat till golden but not crispy. Add in garlic and fry another minute
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon chili
Add in above spices and fry for 30 seconds
- tin of tomatoes (i used the ones already in bits but if whole squish with your fingers into smaller bits)
Add in tomatoes until spicy stuff almagamated
- can of chickpeas drained of whatever brine they stick it in)
- 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds roasted (I do this in a dry frying pan)
- 1 teaspoon of sweet paprika (I only had smoked but used it just the same)
- 1 tablespoon of lemon juice (I think you're supposed to use amchoor but I have never had this in my spice collection. Never)
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon salt (or less if you are more sodium conscious than I)
- 1 cup water
Add in all the above ingredients, stir and cook for 10 minutes.
You can finish with finely chopped green chilli (I only had red so skipped that), some grated fresh ginger (the things you find when you clean out the fridge) and chopped coriander
I ate mine with a roti from Costco cooked from frozen and most excellent it was, and a carrot and black mustard seed salad (also a M Jaffrey staple - grate one carrot, lightly salt, heat splash of olive oil, add teaspoon of black mustard seeds, when they start popping pour over salad, toss and serve, spend 20 minutes wiping up stray popped mustard seeds....)
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