chickpea curry + savory buttermilk drink

Shruti is not only a contributing guest blogger to city kitchen nyc, she is a very close friend of mine and my fierce! running partner :) Since she was raised as a vegetarian, I'm thrilled she will be introducing and contributing fantastic vegetarian dishes, many of which are Indian inspired as well as some Indian drinks. This past week, she took to preparing a dish whose main ingredient were chickpeas.

Chickpeas are high in protein and are used quite frequently in Indian cuisine. Prepared with a variety of spices, kabuli chana, loosely translated to chickpea curry, is often served with rice or naan (नान). At dinner, Shruti served the dish with naan and chapati (चपाती) which is a form of roti (रोटी).

Serving Size : 3

Ingredients
-½ lb of dried chickpeas
-Curry vegetables
     4-5 tomatoes
     ½ medium yellow onion
     6 Indian chillies
     5 curry leaves
-Curry sauce
     1 tsp olive oil
     ½ tsp mustard seeds
     ½ teasp cumin seeds
     3/4 tsp ginger garlic paste
     1 tsp garam masala    
     ½ tsp chilli powder
     Pinch of turmeric powder
     1 tsp coriander powder
-Garnish
     Salt to taste
     10 drops of lemon juice
     Cilantro


Mise en place
Chop the yellow onion
Slice the Indian chili peppers down the middle


yellow onion, indian chili

Set aside the curry leaves, which are known as 'sweet neem leaves' to be used as the curry base



curry leaves




Cut the tomatoes in half and boil in water until soft enough to peel the skin off easily
  

tomatoes



Set aside all the spices for the curry

curry powder, tumeric, mustard seeds,
red chili, coriander



Main
Soak the chickpeas in tepid water overnight until slightly swollen

chickpeas

Rinse them and drain the water out and place in pressure cooker tray
Cover the chickpeas approximately an inch over with water





Cook in the pressure cooker for approximately 20 min*
Place black tea leaves in a cloth bag or paper towel and place on top of chickpeas

tea leaf bag on chickpeas

The black tea leaf bag will give the chickpeas a brown color for aesthetic purposes

tea produces brown chickpeas

Base
Heat a small pan on medium heat and add the olive oil to it
In the heated oil, add cumin and mustard seeds until browned**
Add the curry leaves to the spices and set aside

olive oil, cumin, mustard seeds, curry leaves

In a larger pan, sautee the yellow onions and Indian chilis
Add the spiced curry leaves to the sauteed vegetables

yellow onion, indian chilis, curry leaves

Add the stewed tomatoes to this mixture and soften the mixture
Taking a masher, break down the vegetables and add the tumeric




tomatoes, mashed mixture



Add the chickpeas, garam masala, chili powder, coriander and salt
Mix well and simmer over low heat for at least 5-8 min

Place the chickpea curry onto a large platter

Set aside the chipati and/or naan

plated dish, naan and chipati

Garnish

Add the lemon juice and chopped cilantro on top

lemon juice, cilantro




Pairing : Masala chaas (savory buttermilk)

Ingredients
2 cups yogurt (fat-free or 1% fat)
2 cups chilled water
Cilantro
5-6 curry leaves
½ tsp mustard seeds
Pinch of salt
½ tsp olive oil for garnish

In a metal container, mix the yogurt, water and salt
Add the spice mixture of curry leaves, mustard seeds noted above**

yogurt and water, spices added

Garnish with chopped cilantro
Chill in refridgerator for half an hour or more

cilantro in yogurt and water mixture

Add ice and serve as it is a compliment to the slightly spicy chickpea curry dish

masala chaas

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*You could also use the canned chickpeas available at all stores. Canned chickpeas can be directly poured into the pan after rinsing once