Chickpeas in Glazed Tomato

CHICKPEA SOAKING TIME: 8 hours or overnight
PREPARATION TIME: 10 minutes
COOKING TIME: 1 hour
YIELD: enough for 4-6 persons

1 1/4 cups (310ml) dried chickpeas
4-5 cups (1-1.25 litres) water
3 tablespoons (60ml) olive oil or ghee
1/2 teaspoon (2ml) mustard seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons (7ml) cumin seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons (7ml) minced fresh ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons (7ml) fresh green chillies, seeded and chopped
10 fresh curry leaves
1 3/4 cups (435ml) ripe, finely-chopped tomatoes, about 5 medium tomatoes
1 teaspoon (5ml) tumeric
1/4 cup (60ml) chopped fresh coriander leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons (7ml) chat masala
1/2 teaspoon (2ml) garam masala
1 1/4 teaspoons (6ml) salt
1 tablespoon (20ml) butter

1. Place the chickpeas in a large bowl and cover them with 5 or 6 cups (1.25-1.5 litres) water. Leave to soak for 8 hours or overnight.
2. Pour the chickpeas into a colander and drain them. Place them in a 3-litre/quart saucepan over high heat with 4 or 5 cups of water and a dab of oil or ghee. Bring the water to the boil, reduce the heat to low and cook for 1 hour or until the chickpeas are butter-soft, but not broken down.
3. Meanwhile, in a 2-litre/quart suacepan, prepare the tomate glaze as follows: Warm the oil or ghee over moderate heat. When fairly hot but not smoking, drop in the mustard seeds. When they crackle and turn greyish, add the cumin. As the cumin darkens a few shades, drop in the ginger, chillies and curry leaves. Stir-fry the spices for 1 or 2 minutes or until the spices are fragrant. Add the chopped tomatoes, tumeric, half the fresh coriander, the chat masala and the garam masala. Cook, stirring occasionally for 5-7 mintues, or until the ghee or oil oozes out and the tomatoes are broken down and saucy.
4. Drain the chickpeas, reserving the cooking water. Stir the chickpeas into the sauce, reduce the heat to low and cook for another 10 minutes more, adding a little chickpea cooking liquid, if required, to keep the chickpeas moist.
5. Remove the savoury glazed chickpeas from the heat, add the remaining butter, salt, and the rest of the herbs. Serve hot with wedges of lemon or lime and the breads and accompaniments suggested above.

This recipe has also appeared at The Recipe Pot and the Jeffrey Online Journal.