Chickpea Salad

This salad, my twist on the desi chana chaat, is something that I make very often. The salad is easy to prepare and the whole thing comes together in a cinch- especially if all the ingredients are prepped in advance.

Here's what I used for approximately 2 servings.
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 celery sticks, chopped
½ cucumber, cut into cubes
2 scallions, finely chopped
6-7 baby carrots, cut into small pieces
½ cup cherry tomatoes, halved
¾ cup grapes, halved
½ mango (ripe), cut into small cubes

For the dressing:
Juice of a lemon
1-2 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp chaat masala
Salt
Pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Mix well, chill and serve.

Pasta e Ceci (Pasta with Chickpeas)

I’m not quite sure if this one’s a soup or a pasta dish. All I know is that it made for a very delicious and satisfying meal. It’s great on a cold (or any other) day and works for lunch or dinner.
I found the recipe here and came up with this after tweaking the original a bit.

Ingredients:
(For approximately 3 servings)
¾ cup of any kind of small pasta (I used pipette), cooked till almost al dente

1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
½ can of stewed tomatoes (the one I used had small amounts of onion, celery & green pepper too)
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
½ onion, finely chopped
¾ tsp dried rosemary
Red pepper flakes
Pepper
Salt
Olive oil
1-2 cups water (I used the pasta water)

Method:
Heat olive oil in a large saucepan. Add chopped onion and crushed garlic followed by salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and crushed rosemary. Cook until the onions turn soft and translucent.

Add the canned tomatoes, breaking up the large pieces with the back of a big spoon.

Add half the chickpeas. Cook for a few minutes. Blend everything in the saucepan together. Add some water if it's too thick. I used my handheld immersion blender here but a regular blender is fine too- it's just that it's a pain to have to wait for the whole thing to cool a bit, then transfer to the blender and then back again to the saucepan.

Simmer, stirring occasionally. The pureed chickpeas give the soup a very thick and creamy texture. Add the remaining chickpeas. Cook for a few minutes. Adjust salt and pepper as required.

Add the cooked pasta and cook for a minute or two for all the flavors to come together. The longer the soup sits, the thicker it gets. Serve hot.

I’m sending this across to Vaishali for It’s A Vegan World: Italian.

This also goes to Susan for the eighth edition of My Legume Love Affair.

Buon appetito!

Peppery Chickpeas

I’ve been frequenting my local library a lot during the weekends. Lately, I have been browsing through their collection of books by Indian authors/books set in India. I managed to finish 4 books in the last 3 months, which is more than I’d read in the last 2 years!

Here are a few books I’ve enjoyed recently. You might like them too.
Monsoon Diary: A Memoir with Recipes by Shoba Narayan
A Breath of Fresh Air by Amulya Malladi
The Mango Season by Amulya Malladi
Song of the Cuckoo Bird by Amulya Malladi
Serving Crazy with Curry by Amulya Malladi (Of all of Malladi’s books, this was my least favorite.)
I’m currently halfway through Rupa Bajwa’s The Sari Shop. Anita Rau Badami’s Tamarind Woman is next on my list to read.

I think I just might have rediscovered the joy of reading! I did not make any New Year's resolutions, but if had made one, it would be this- to read more.

During a recent visit to the library a few days back I picked up, among other books, a couple of cookbooks too.

This recipe for peppery chickpeas is something I came across in Maya Kaimal's Savoring the Spice Coast of India: Fresh Flavors from Kerala. It is a very simple recipe that can be prepared in a jiffy especially if you are like me, and always have a couple of cans of chickpeas on hand.

Ingredients:
(For almost 2 servings)
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 onion, finely chopped
¾ tsp pepper, coarsely ground
¼ tsp cumin seeds, roasted & powdered
½ tsp coriander powder
A pinch of chilli powder
A handful of coriander leaves, chopped
Lemon juice, freshly squeezed
Salt

For seasoning:
1 Tbsp oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp cumin seeds

Method:
Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin and mustard seeds. Add the onions and sauté till lightly brown.

Add the spice powders (pepper, coriander cumin, chilli) and cook.

Stir in the chickpeas and cover and cook for a couple of minutes for the spices to coat the chickpeas and for the flavors to come together.

Take the pan off the heat, stir in the lemon juice. Garnish with chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves.

This is my entry for JFI: Chickpeas. I’m also sending this across for the seventh edition of My Legume Love Affair.

A couple of other legume-centric dishes on this blog-
Chickpea Tikkis
Beans with Cheese and Basil
Edamame and Black Beans Thoran
Tomatillo Dal
Moth Beans Curry
Spicy Cannellini Bean Soup
Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Chickpea Tikkis

Here's an appetizer that packs a protein punch that will keep you full until dinner. A couple of these along with some salad would also nicely serve as dinner itself.
I almost always have a few different kinds of canned beans on hand. There's so much you can do with them!

This recipe was inspired by these two recipes.

Ingredients:
(For 10-12 small tikkis)
1 can chickpeas/garbanzo beans, drained well
½ small onion, chopped into chunks
3-4 green chillis, chopped
1 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp bread crumbs
1 egg
Salt to taste

To coat the tikkis -
2 Tbsp plain bread crumbs
2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese
Oil (for shallow-frying the tikkis)

Method:
Pulse the ingredients together a couple of times to form a coarse mixture that’s still chunky. If it becomes too sticky, add some more flour and bread crumbs.

Portion out 10-12 small balls of the mixture. Flatten each ball as much as possible on the palm of your hand without causing the tikkis to crumble. A thicker one takes longer to cook and gives you a tikki that is cooked well on the outside but is not completely done on the inside

Coat both sides with the cheese and crumbs mixture.

In a large skillet, using as little oil as possible (2-3 Tbsp), shallow-fry the tikkis. Cook each side for about 3-4 minutes on medium heat until golden brown.
Serve hot with some tomato ketchup or enjoy it with your favorite chutney. We had these with some mango chutney along with hot cups of tea.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Hummus is a Middle Eastern spread made from chickpeas or garbanzo beans, and tahini, a paste of sesame seeds. It is typically eaten with pita or other flat bread.
When I first tasted hummus a couple of years back, I disliked it instantly. Being new to the country and never having experimented with non-Indian food, I obviously needed time to get accustomed to eating pureed chickpeas. I believe that it is an acquired taste. But now, with time, I have grown to like hummus and even make my own these days.

You can buy hummus in most grocery stores, but it's so easy to make and so much more fun to make your own by experimenting with the ingredients and adjusting the flavors just the way you want it . Tahini too can be easily found in your local grocery store, but it can be made at home too. Here’s an easy way to make your own tahini. I used store-bought tahini for making this. Adding too much adds a slightly bitter taste to the hummus.

Through trial and error, I have arrived at the proportions indicated below and this has been working well for me.

Ingredients:
A can (15 oz) of chickpeas/garbanzo beans, drained
2 big pieces of roasted red pepper (I used the jarred ones)
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
A big pinch or two of ground cumin
2 Tbsp tahini (sesame paste)
1Tbsp olive oil
Salt to taste.

Method:
Place all the ingredients (except the oil) in a food processor and blend well. Add the olive oil in a thin stream, with the processor running, till everything comes together to form a smooth paste. Season with salt.

Serve with toasted pita triangles.

This is my entry for the Middle Eastern edition of A.W.E.D. being hosted by Siri @ Siri's Corner.