Pickle Flavored Chickpeas

Yes, I am offering up another chickpea dish. As far as I am concerned, you can never have enough recipes for this most tasty legume. I can never resist nibbling on the cooked beans before they even make it into the dish I am preparing. The addition of potato here adds a nice texture to this North Indian entree and the spicing is just the thing for cold winter evenings. Serve with brown basmati rice for an especially nourishing meal.

I adapted the recipe from 1000 Indian Recipes by Neelam Batra. This cookbook was a gift from my dear friend Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook and it comes highly recommended from my kitchen. Though not strictly vegetarian, there are tons of options for vegans and vegetarians, and lots of room to play around with the recipes that are presented. I rarely follow a recipe to a tee but instead like to add my own touches and spicing and ingredient options.

Pickle Flavored Chickpeas

1 1/4 cups of chickpeas, soaked in water overnight
1 large potato, roasted and peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons of tamarind pulp
1 tablespoon of panch-phoran
2 tablespoons of ghee, butter or oil
2 tablespoons of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced or crushed
2 green chilies, seeded and finely chopped
1 large tomato, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
1 tablespoon of ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne
1/2 teaspoon of asafoetida
1 tablespoon of dijon mustard
sea salt to taste
1/2 cup of fresh parsley or coriander
1/2 teaspoon of garam masala

Soak the chickpeas in enough water to cover overnight. Drain, transfer to a large pot, cover with water, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium low, cover and cook until the chickpeas are buttery soft - roughly 1 hour. Drain and set aside.

Soak the tamarind pulp in one cup of hot water for 20 minutes. Press through a sieve, discard the pulp and reserve the water.

Mash the garlic and ginger in a mortal and pestle. Heat the oil over medium heat in a wok or large pan. When hot, add the garlic, ginger mixture, along with the chillies and panch-phoran and stir and fry for 5 minutes. Add the turmeric, ground coriander, cayenne, asafoetida and stir and fry for 2 minutes. Add the tomato, stir and fry for 5 minutes and then add the drained and cooked chickpeas, along with the reserved tamarind water, potato and Dijon mustard and salt. Cook for another 5 - 10 minutes until most of the liquid is evaporated and the flavors are blended. Stir in the parsley, and sprinkle with garam masala.

Serves 4 - 6.

More Chickpea Recipes from Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen:
Marinated Sun-Dried Tomato Hummus with Olives
Chickpea and Lentil Salad with Zucchini and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Chickpea Flour Dumplings in a Spicy Yogurt Sauce
Scrambled Chickpea Flour with a Fiery Red Chili Paste

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