The Recipe Room

Pulses are a regular part of my diet. I am especially fond of chickpeas; they are used for many different types of foods such as stews, curries or salads (try this Carrot and Chickpea Salad). They can also be mashed up to make hummus or falafel. In this Spicy Chickpeas with Masala recipe, I take this otherwise bland pulse, mix it with red pepper and spinach, and create a feisty plate for all Indian-food lovers to enjoy! Although it might be a tad spicy, serving it with rice provides a nice balance.

Chickpeas are very high in protein and fibre. However, they are much easier to digest than other pulses. I appreciate that fact, and I keep it in mind to avoid any embarrassing situations regarding my digestive system.

These tiny seeds are an important part of Indian industry as India is the top producer of chickpeas in the world. Did you know there are actually two types of chickpeas? The common English variety is actually called kabuli. It is lighter and larger than the Indian chickpea, desi. The native desi is smaller, darker, and a bit healthier than the Kabuli. Regardless, either one will work perfectly in my spicy chickpea recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 can of cooked chickpeas, about 800 grams.
• 200g fresh spinach leaves
• 1 small red bell pepper
• 1 small red onion
• 1 small tomato, diced into cubes
• 5 cloves garlic
• 5g fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 1 teaspoon Garam Masala
• 1 teaspoon curry
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation Method:

1. In a large frying pan, heat up a few teaspoons of olive oil.
2. When hot, sauté the onion, pepper, garlic and ginger for 5 minutes or until the onions are translucent and soft.
3. Clean the chickpeas by rinsing them in a colander and draining. Pick out any empty shells.
4. Add the chickpeas to the frying pan, then the vegetables, and mix well.
5. Add all the spices and the tomato to the mix, stirring well.
6. Next place just enough hot water in the pan so as to cover the vegetables. This is to create a sauce-like texture when finished.
7. Cover and let simmer for 15-20 minutes.
8. Reduce heat and add spinach. Cover again and allow the spinach to simmer for 2 more minutes with the rest of the vegetables.
9. Take off the stove and serve on top of rice.

Makes: 4 servings
Takes: 45 minutes

Tags: cayenne, chickpeas, cumin, curry, Garam Masala, garlic, ginger, Indian food, pepper, red onion, spicy, spicy chickpeas with masala, spinach, tomato

This entry was posted on Monday, 26 March, 2012 at 11:17 am by Jay Ahmed and is filed under Less than 1 hour, Main Courses, Meal for 4 people. You can follow any responses to this entry through the feed RSS 2.0. You can leave a comment, or make a trackback from your own blog.