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.

Chicken with Green Masala (Galinha cafreal)

INGREDIENTS:

1 bunch fresh cilantro (fresh coriander), leaves and stems coarsely chopped
1/4 cup firmly packed with fresh mint
5 fresh green chilli peppers, coarsely chopped
4 teaspoons crushed fresh ginger
4 teaspoons crushed garlic
1 teaspoons coarsely ground black peppercorns
salt to taste
juice of 1 lemon
1 1/2 lb (750 g) chicken thigh fillets, halved
4 teaspoons vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 475 deg F (240 deg C/Gas 9).

Place cilantro, mint chilli pepper, ginger, garlic, peppercorns and salt in a food processor. Process to form a thick paste, adding enough lemon juice to moisten ingredients.

In a glass or ceramic bowl, combine paste with chicken. Mix well to coat chicken and set aside to marinate for 20 minutes.

Brush vegetable oil over a large baking sheet. Place chicken on a sheet in a single layer. Bake, without turning, until chicken is cooked through, 20-25 minutes.

Serves 8-10 as part of an Indian meal.

Jeff's notes.
1. I added a few squeezes of lemon juice, which was sufficient for the paste.
2. I prepared this very early that day, so it was marinating in the fridge for a good 6-7 hours, I'm not sure if the flavour got into the chicken much more.
3. It was really spicy when I tasted the paste, but it turned out alright when spread out over the chicken.
4. I used stir-fry chicken pieces.

This recipe has also appeared at The Recipe Pot.