I love Indian food. I can’t get enough of it. One of my favorite things about Indian cuisine is that a lot of it was borne out of poor circumstances. Many dishes evolved in times where there wasn’t refrigeration, thus strong flavors were used to trick the senses. Likewise, a lot of the cuisine is very inexpensive to produce. I love the bold flavors, the colors, the aromas. It may take some time and some work. You may have to go out to stores you haven’t been in before to pick up spices you’ve never used. If your impression of curry relies on a pale yellow curry powder from the supermarket, you’re probably missing out on a world of flavors.

When cooking for my family, I try to be conscious of choosing healthy options and a wide range of foods. These days, for health and cost reasons, I’m trying to incorporate more vegetarian items into our menu. One popular staple in the house is the chickpea, also known as a garbanzo bean. Of all the lentils and beans available, I think they are one of the “meatiest.” They are available dried and canned, but I find the canned tend to have an off, metallic flavor and tend to break down too easily. Dried chickpeas are great (and much cheaper), but they do take a LONG time to cook. My method is as follows:

For 1c dried chickpeas (yields a little over 2c cooked)

1. Rinse the dried legumes with plenty of cool water, checking for rocks.
2. Put into a bowl and soak them overnight, at least 8 hours, no more than 24.
3. Drain and rinse with cool water.
4. Put in a crock pot, cover with 1.5 inches of water, and cook on low for 8-12 hours.
5. Drain and use in any recipe as you would canned chickpeas, or store in the refrigerator, covered in the cooking liquid, for up to a week.

Chickpeas cooked this way are tender, but firm. At this point, they can be fried, mashed, or cooked in a sauce for another few hours, which is what I’m usually doing anyway. If you want meltingly-soft chickpeas, you can cook them longer, or cook them on the high temperature of your crock pot.

The chickpeas I made tonight are from a recipe in Madhur Jaffrey’s book, From Curries to Kebabs: Recipes from the Indian Spice Trail titled “Easy Chickpea Curry”. Since it’s such a flavorful dish, canned chickpeas would be fine, but I really prefer the texture of home-cooked. The “easy” in this recipe comes from a long list of ingredients that just get blended together, no need to carefully chop onions, garlic, ginger, etc. Here’s an abbreviated, annotated version of that recipe:

Easy Chickpea Curry
by Madhur Jaffrey
(serves 4 to 6)

2c drained chickpeas

Curry Paste
2 smallish tomatoes (about 8 ounces), chopped (I used a half-can of diced tomatoes)
2-inch piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
3 to 6 fresh hot green chilies, chopped
1c cilantro tops, chopped (save some for garnish later)
1T ground coriander
2t ground cumin
1/2t ground turmeric
1/2t cayenne pepper
1 1/4t salt

3T oil
1 medium stick of cinnamon
5 whole cardamom pods
2 bay leaves
1c finely chopped onion
2 medium potatoes (about 9 ounces), peeled and cut into 3/4-inch dice

Put all the Curry Paste ingredients (from the tomatoes to the salt) in a blender with 5-6T water and blend until smooth.

1. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a wide, lidded, medium pan. When hot, put in the cinnamon, cardamom, and bay leaves.
2. When they start to color, in about 10 seconds, add the onion and potatoes.
3. Stir and fry for about 6 minutes, or until the onion is lightly browned.
4. Add the curry paste and stir for a minute (deglaze the pan, scraping any stuck bits).
5. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 6-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Add 1c of water and the chickpeas
7. Stir and bring to a simmer, cover and cook 20 minutes for canned chickpeas, up to an hour for homemade.

I like to serve this with rice, garnished with a little finely chopped fresh cilantro.

You’ll see the other components of tonight’s meal over the next few posts. If you try the recipes I write about here, let me know how they turn out. If you have any questions about any of the ingredients or techniques I use, leave a comment and I’ll make sure to respond.