Cauliflower, Kale, and Chickpea Curry Pot

I love one-pot meals, and coming across this blog and recipe, I was all for trying it out. Considering, I had all the ingredients, it was a no brainer.

Ingredients:

1 small cauliflower, washed, trimmed and cut into florets
4 tomatoes, crushed
1 cup chickpeas, soaked for 24 hours and steamed
1 onion, chopped
1-2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 jalapeno, minced (de-seeded if you prefer)
1 in piece of ginger, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 cups chopped Tuscan or Lacinato kale
1 tbsp curry powder
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
lemon juice (optional)
cilantro or parsley to garnish
1-2 bay leaves
1-2 tbsp coconut oil

Soak chickpeas for 16-24 hours. Rinse and steam with double the quantity water, in a pressure cooker. Set aside.

Heat oil in a large pan or dutch oven. Add bay leaves, onions, garlic, jalapeno and ginger and fry till lightly brown about 5-7 minutes. Add potatoes and cauliflower and continue to fry for 1-2 minutes.

Meanwhile, process tomatoes in a blender and add to the pot. Add steamed chickpeas. Season with  curry powder, salt and fresh ground pepper and mix well. Add 1-2 cups broth or water, and  bring to a boil. Reduce flame and let simmer for 30-40 minutes.

Add chopped kale and continue to cook for another 5-6 minutes. Adjust seasoning as desired, garnish with cilantro or parsley and serve warm with rice or bread.

Quick Lunch Series: Greek Chickpea-Mango Pasta Salad

I normally prefer to use dry beans in my cooking. But this requires plenty of lead time to plan, soak, and cook the beans before you can use them. For this reason, I do keep a few cans of organic beans around. This is especially useful when I am stumped for what to prepare for the next day office lunch. This one is adapted from here. I had no artichoke hearts, instead, I swapped in some mango. Also, I decided to use more chickpeas and less pasta.

Ingredients:
1 can garbanzo beans (aka Chickpeas)
1/2 cup whole wheat elbow pasta
1/2 mango chopped
1/2 cup black olives sliced
1/2 cup feta cheese
4-6 sun dried tomatoes sliced
1-2 tbsp sliced red onion (optional)
1 tsp dried oregano
a few red pepper flakes
salt and fresh ground pepper

Cook the pasta according to directions. Drain and set aside to cool.

Drain and rinse the chickpeas.

In a large bowl, toss together the chickpeas, pasta, sun dried tomatoes, red onion, mango, olives, artichokes if using, dried oregano, red pepper flakes, salt and fresh ground pepper. Use oil from artichokes or sun dried tomatoes if using oil soaked varieties. Else drizzle some olive oil.

Chill or serve immediately topped with some fresh feta cheese. Delicious!

Chickpea Ratatouille

I had picked up some Eggplant this week to make some Ratatouille. The recipe in the 21 day Tummy Diet was the Ratatouille Frittata which I was reluctant to make. I scoured several of my favorite food blogs (Eat, Live, Run being one of them) for something different. I had this vague idea of roasted eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes… and then I found one that was just perfect here. Here is my version with very slight changes.

Ingredients:
1 medium eggplant cut into chunks
1 zucchini cut into chunks
1 yellow onion cut into chunks
2 bell pepper cut into chunks (I used 1 green and 1 yellow)
2 medium tomatoes cut into chunks (or used 1 can)
5 garlic cloves chopped
0.5 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 can chickpeas (drained and washed)
1-2 tbsp olive oil
salt and fresh ground pepper
a little lemon juice (optional)
dash of paprika (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Toss the first 6 ingredients in olive oil, salt and pepper in a large oven safe dish. Roast for 40-45 minutes, mixing halfway through. Add chickpeas, and fresh parsley, toss lightly and continue roasting for another 10-15 minutes.

Remove from oven and serve warm. Drizzle a little lemon juice, add salt and pepper as needed. Serve stand alone or with some brown rice couscous. Makes about 4-5 servings.

Spicy Chickpea and Brussels Sprouts Soup

It’s cold. Not yet winter. But still cold.

The arctic chill has brought some really cold temperatures down to the Mid-Atlantic. Unlike last year when I did my 15 week soup challenge, this year, I am more in the go with the flow mode. While I am bound to try several new soup recipes, I am less inclined to challenge myself. After all, it is the perfect lunch item on a cold winter’s day!

I came across this soup a few days ago. And I had most of the ingredients. Almost.

As always I changed it a little. Not the least, because, I did not have cabbage, but had brussels sprouts instead. And that I found out tamari was similar to soy sauce.

Ingredients:
1.5 cups chickpeas soaked 12-24 hours
8-10 brussels sprouts shredded
1 medium onion chopped
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 green chilli minced
1 tbsp minced fresh garlic
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
1 tomato blended (use paste if you like)
1 can coconut milk
juice of 1 lemon
3 cups water or broth
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 star anise
2 tbsp soy sauce (or tamari)
1 tbsp curry powder
salt and fresh ground pepper

If using dry garbanzo beans, soak overnight and pre-cook.

In a large pan, bring 1 tbsp coconut oil to boil. Add chopped onion, garlic, ginger and jalapeno and fry lightly for 2-3 minutes. Add cooked or canned garbanzo beans, coconut milk, tomato paste, broth (or water) and spices. Bring to a boil and reduce flame. Simmer on medium low for 25-30 minutes.

Serve warm with some croutons or warm bread.

A. Soup. A. Week Chickpea Soup for the Soul

It has been a dismal week. Cold, cloudy and gloomy. Even days forecast to push temperatures into the 60s proved false. Cold and flu season is rampant. This week’s soup is simple and soothing for the throat and the soul.

I rarely use chard greens, so when I came across this recipe I thought it would be a perfect addition to my A. Soup. A Week. Also this was the week I went almost vegan to follow the VedgedOut Green Smoothie Challenge. The recipe for this soup with some slight modifications perfectly fit the parameters of the challenge.

Ingredients:
1 cup raw chickpeas
1-2 cups of chard greens
1 carrot diced
1 celery stick diced
1-2 garlic cloves minced
1 jalapeno pepper thinly sliced
1 shallot minced
a piece of ginger
1-2 roma tomatoes
some lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 cups water or broth
1 tsp dry parsley

If using raw chickpeas, soak overnight or for at least 8 hours. Pressure cook and set aside. If using canned chickpeas, drain and rinse chickpeas.

As I was doing the challenge, I did not use any oil. But you can saute the vegetables in oil. Add onions, garlic, ginger, carrots, celery, and tomatoes to a large pan or dutch oven. Add broth or water and bring to a boil. Add chickpeas. Reduce flame and cook for about 20 minutes. Add chard greens. Add salt, pepper, lemon juice and parsley. Cook for an additional 5-10 minutes until the greens wilt.

Serve warm. Makes 3-4 helpings.

This is adapted from Eat Live Run. Oh…. I let the Chicken out 🙂

Chole Chaat

Chaat is a savory snack made by combining various ingredients such as cooked potato, chickpeas, sweet and sour sauces, yogurt, crunchy sev, topped with chopped tomato, onion and cilantro or any other combination based on the specific kind  of chaat.

This is very popular all across India where chaat is sold on most street corners (see Pani Puri).

Ingredients:
1 cup chole
2-3 tbsp sev or other crunchies
1-2 tbsp chopped onion
1-2 tbsp chopped tomato
1 tbsp chopped cilantro
1-2 tbsp smooth yogurt
1 tbsp mint chutney
1 tbsp tamarind-date chutney

Take some warm chole in a bowl. Start layering your favorites toppings. I usually like to add the following:

First sprinkle some sev or crunchies on the chole. Then add some chopped onion and tomato. Next add some mint and date tamarind chutney. Layer some smooth yogurt. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy with a hot cuppa tea!

Chaat can be served in different ways in Indian fast food restaurants: samosa chaat, allo tiki chaat, ragda chaat and many more kind.

Go try it! You’ll love it!

See Also:
Pani Puri
Samosa
Chole
Curry Puff
Pav Bhaji

Chickpeas with Spinach (Chole)

Chole is a very popular North Indian dish that is usually a very spicy curry made from chickpeas (channa). It is usually paired with bhature (fried bread). Chole can also be eaten with naan, roti and other types of bread and even with basmathi rice. There are many different ways to cook it. Traditionally it is cooked with onions and tomatoes and steeped in spices such as amchur (mango powder), anardhana (pomegrante powder) and garam masala.

Ingredients:
1 cup dry chickpeas (or use canned)
1-2 cups of chopped spinach
1 medium white or yellow onion chopped
1 medium tomato chopped
2-3 garlic cloves
1 inch piece of ginger
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp amchur (mango powder)
1/4 tsp red chili powder (optional)
pinch of turmeric
salt to taste
cilantro to garnish

If using raw beans, soak in water for 12 to 24 hrs. Boil the chickpeas in 2 cups of water until cooked. I usually prefer to cook them in a pressure cooker. Set aside.

Using a mini chopper or a mortar and pestle grind the garlic and ginger to a paste.

Heat a little oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds and turmeric. Once the cumin seeds turn lightly brown add chopped onion and ginger-garlic paste and fry till lightly brown. Add chopped spinach and tomato and continue cooking for 5 min. Add the spices and salt to taste. Add the cooked chickpeas along with any left over water. Add more water as necessary and continue cooking on medium low flame for another 20 minutes until all the spices are infused and all the vegetables are cooked and soften.

Garnish with some cilantro and serve hot with bhature, roti, naan or basmati rice.

Vegetarian Moroccan Stew

Ingredients:
1 cup garbanzo beans (soaked for 8 hours or use 1 can)
1 cup dry lentils
1 sweet onion chopped
2 cups finely shredded kale
3-4 medium tomatoes diced (or 1 can)
4 large carrots chopped
1 medium turnip (substitute for potatoes)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/8 tsp curry powder
1 tsp black pepper
salt to taste
1-2 tbsp olive oil (or butter)
6 cups water or 4 cans broth
1 tbsp honey

Chole

Savory mouth watering chickpea curry eaten as snack (chaat) or with Naan or Roti for dinner. Yummy! It’s what’s for dinner tonight 🙂

Ingredients:

1 cup chickpeas soaked overnight or eight hours (or for the lazy folk use 1 can )
1 medium onion chopped into large pieces
1 large tomato chopped
1 jalapeno sliced
2-3 cloves garlic
1/2 inch ginger piece
1-2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder or paprika
1/2 tsp cumin powder
Salt to taste

Pre-cook chickpeas if using dry ones.

For the curry, to the pan add 1 tbsp oil and fry onions till lightly brown, add the sliced jalapeno, ginger, garlic and tomato and cook a few minutes. Add spices and continue cooking till all mix well. Adjust spice quantities based on personal preference. Remove from flame and cool. Grind the mix along with a few cooked chickpeas into a paste. Add the remaining oil (1 tbsp) to a pan and transfer the curry mix to the pan. Add the cooked chickpeas (or canned) to the curry mix and cook on low flame for another 10-15 minutes. Add salt to taste.

Serve hot with some naan (or roti) with yogurt, and lemon pickle.


For samosa chaat:
In a bowl place a warm samosa. Add the chole liberally on top to immerse the samosa. Chop some onions, cilantro and layer on top. Sprinkle some mint chutney, tamarind-date chutney, some yogurt, and paprika.

For Allo tikki:
Boil a potato and mash it. Add salt, some amchur (dried mango powder) and paprika. Flatten to a patty and cook on a pan with some oil to lightly brown both sides. Place in a bowl and top similar to the samosa chaat.

Moroccan spicy chick pea soup

Ingredients:

2 cup chickpeas soaked overnight and washed (or 2 cans )
1 medium onion chopped
1 cup chopped fresh spinach
3-4 cloves garlic minced
2 tomatoes chopped
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp sugar
2-3 tbsp olive oil
salt to taste
fresh black pepper
4 cups broth or water

In a large pan heat the oil, add the chopped onion and garlic and fry on low flame until lightly golden. Add the spices and continue frying. Then add the tomatoes and fry for 1-2 minutes. Add chickpeas and enough water or broth to immerse the chickpeas (about  4 cups ) and cook on low flame or in a pressure cooker until the chickpeas soften. Use a potato masher to mash a few chickpeas. Add the chopped spinach and leave for 2 minutes. Remove from flame and serve hot. Servings: 4.