Revival

Holy cow! I am so sorry to have been so absent from my Blog. I have been cooking - that's for sure, just not sharing...ouch. But I'm back...and as the holy cow suggests I am totally becoming an Indian. That's with regard to all things culinary and well possibly much, much more.

I was given the most wonderful book for my birthday, it's called Serendip by Peter Kuruvita, he's a Sri Lankan Australian chef and he tells the story of living in Sri Lanka as a child and his grandmother's kitchen. It is such a heartfelt, personal book, with beautiful recipes and pictures. Not only that, but it has inspired me to find out more about the Ayurvedic attitude towards food. And so the spicy journey continues.......

Today is helluva rainy in Cape Town and perfect weather for a chickpea curry, also known as Chana Masala. Oooooh with the fluffy Basmati rice and roti / paratha /chapati , if you're lucky.

CHANA MASALA


Ingredients:

500g Chickpeas - best soaked overnight, then brought to boil and simmered for 1/2 hours till firm but soft when bitten, taste them - else use canned chickpeas
1 medium onion chopped finely
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 4cm piece ginger, roughly chopped -you can also use the paste of ginger&garlic for convenience 1/2 tsp chilli powder / 1 dried chilli
1 tbsp whole/ ground cumin
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp ground coriander
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 tin chopped /whole tomatoes
1 bunch fresh coriander - washed of sand in a big basin of water

Method:

Once you've got your chickpeas ready, fry the onion with a little oil in a large saucepan or pot, as they go translucent add the ginger and garlic. After about 3 minutes, when they too are nice and soft, add all your spices ( chilli, cumin turmeric, coriander ). Allow to sizzle gently for 5 minutes, if they start to stick just add a little dash of water. Then add tomato paste, allow this to cook for a minute or two. Now add the chopped or whole tomatoes, mash them a bit if they're whole.

Add the chickpeas, bring to the boil, and then simmer until the sauce thickens a bit. You can also mash the chickpeas a little at this stage, it helps thicken it very nicely.
Garnish with fresh coriander.

Make some fluffy Basmati and eat it all up with your hands!