Thursday, August 09, 2007

Curried Indian Chickpeas



Yet another spicy one to fill your nostrils with the scent of faraway places.

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 onions, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. fresh ginger root, finely chopped
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander (the ground seeds of the herb cilantro)
Salt, to taste
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. ground turmeric
* I usually shake on some garam masala, too
Two 15-oz. cans garbanzo beans or the equivalent of freshly cooked
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro, optional

Heat onion in a large frying pan over medium heat and fry onions until tender. Stir in garlic, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, salt, cayenne, and turmeric. Cook for one minute over medium heat, stirring constantly. Mix in garbanzo beans and some of their liquid (I usually only put in some of the liquid from one can so the flavor is not diluted, though the recipe calls for all the liquid from both cans). Continue to cook and stir until all ingredients are well blended and heated through. Remove from heat. Stir in cilantro just before serving, if desired. Serves 8 or serves one bearded husband for three lunches. (He requested that I pack it for his lunch EVERY SINGLE DAY, but I haven't been a good enough wife to do it more than half a dozen times so far.)

3 comments:

Michelle said...

We tried this out and Dave and I liked it. It was a bit spicy for the kids, so next time we'll tone it down a bit. Mmmm...

Abigail said...

It's funny, because the last time I made this I only added a few tablespoons of the garbanzo liquid and drained and rinsed the other beans before adding them. This has the dual benefits of reducing sodium content and making it easy for the spices to completely coat the chickpeas. The girls won't touch the stuff! :)

alltheposts said...

Any dish with fresh ginger root is a friend of mine!