Tag Archives: chickpeas

Sarah’s Garbanzo Salad

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This salad is one of my favorites, and I had nearly forgotten about it until last week when I was paging through some old recipes to get ideas for a dinner I was cooking. It has a sweet and tangy flavor and offers an attractive mix of colors. It makes a great complement to a first course plate, doubling as a light side and attractive garnish. It also works well as a summer picnic salad, providing a great alternative to lettuce salads and pasta salads.

SARAH’S GARBANZO SALAD

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
12 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup kalamata olives or ½ cup black olives, coarsely chopped and pitted, if necessary
1 green onion, thinly sliced
1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons fresh basil or 2 tablespoons parsley or 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

Whisk together vinegar, olive oil and mustard in a medium sized bowl.

Add tomatoes, olives, green onion, garbanzos and herbs; toss with vinaigrette.

You can eat this salad right away, but I’ve found that it tastes best if you chill the salad and let the flavors meld for a couple hours. Grape tomatoes could be substituted for the cherry tomatoes, in a pinch, but I find that brighter, sweeter flavor of the cherry tomatoes makes a big difference in this salad, so if given the choice, stick with cherry.

Summer Hummus

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As the heat of summer rolls in, I find myself searching for recipes that provide full flavor and hearty enjoyment without the need to be cooked ahead of time or heated up before eating. At the suggestion of one of my co-workers (with whom I often conspire to bring in a Friday snack), I went back to one of my old-favorite, but long-neglected recipes, basic hummus.

Why has my hummus recipe been so long-neglected? Well the unfortunate thing about hummus is that while most of the ingredients are cheap and easy to come by, one key ingredient is both expensive and not exactly “garden variety”-sesame tahini. It sounds exotic, but sesame tahini is fundamentally sesame seed butter, i.e. ground and pureed sesame seeds just like peanut butter is ground and pureed peanuts. While most large grocery stores, at least in cities the size of Pittsburgh, will stock tahini, chances are it will be expensive. $6 or $7 dollars for a jar that’s around the same size or smaller than the average peanut butter jar.

In order to make hummus with any degree of regularity, I would have to find some inexpensive tahini. I turned to Amazon, as I do for many shopping dilemmas. From bulk spices to facial moisturizing cream, I have found that many items are, in fact, cheaper to buy in bulk on Amazon than in the store. Some items, of course, are assuredly not cheaper (don’t try to buy hair gel online!), but oftentimes I do find a great deal, and so I thought such might be the case with tahini. I scoured all the tahini offerings for the best deal, and found Al Wadi Tahina for about $14 for two 32 oz jars (i.e. pretty darn big jars; each at least twice the size of an average tahini jar).

Armed with my bulk tahini, I was ready to revisit my old recipe. I’m going to post a version of my recipe that is built around using one can of chickpeas. This recipe makes a nice modest amount, such as a bowlful to serve at a party amongst other hors d’oeuvres. Usually, however, I make double this recipe so I can have a stock that will last several days.

SARAH’S BASIC HUMMUS

1 can (15 oz) of chickpeas
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1-2 teaspoons minced garlic
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons sesame tahini
paprika and/or red pepper, to taste
a dash or two of cumin
black pepper, to taste

Drain the chickpeas, but reserve the liquid. The chickpea liquid that the beans are canned with is very important for getting the right consistency without the hummus becoming too bland.

HummuaAssemble the drained chickpeas, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, tahini and spices in the bowl of a food processor. Add small amounts at a time of the chickpea liquid to help the contents process smoothly. Add only enough to get the hummus to your desired consistency. Adding the whole of the leftover liquid will result in a hummus that is much too runny, so take your time and contribute small bits until you get the consistency you want. Some people like a thicker hummus than others; the choice is yours.

Chill the hummus a couple hours before serving. Serve with warm pitas or corn chips as a dip, or use with bread or tortillas to make a sandwich.

I also like to add Parmesan cheese when I make a hummus/tortilla sandwich. Also, this recipe can be made with an immersion blender, but it requires a bit more effort and perhaps a bit more liquid, so the food processor, if available and convenient, is definitely the recommended form of pureeing the ingredients.

Another great thing about hummus is its versatility. You can make many different flavors without changing in the recipe. Here are some I’ve tried so far:

SUN-DRIED TOMATO HUMMUS: Add sun- or oven-dried tomatoes to the food processor. Add enough to turn the hummus pink-ish in color.

LEMON HUMMUS: Increase the lemony flavor of the hummus without adding more liquid by adding the zest of half a lemon to the food processor

WASABI GINGER HUMMUS: Add a tablespoon (or more to taste) or Wasabi powder and two teaspoons (or more to taste) of ginger powder while mixing.

CILANTRO LIME: Substitute lime juice for lemon juice in the above recipe. Add the zest of half a lime if available. After the hummus is processed to creamy, add a small bunch of fresh cilantro and process the hummus on pulse until cilantro is chopped and integrated, but not pureed. You don’t want green hummus

PEANUT BUTTER HUMMUS: No tahini in sight? Down on sesame? Looking for a new twist on an old favorite? Substitute peanut butter (or almond butter or cashew butter) for the tahini. It will definitely be different from traditional hummus, but will keep you in the same ballpark of taste and consistency.

Chettinad Curry

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Last week I finally got a chance to try a curry recipe I’ve been intending to make for some time, Chettinad Curry. After having a Chettinad numerous times at various restaurants around the city, I was anxious to try my own hand at this dish. Chettinad curries I’ve had in the past rely heavily on dark and aromatic spices, cinnamon, clove, cardamom, anise, allspice, mace, etc. I worked off a recipe in one of my go-to curry cookbooks, but as usual, I changed the method and some ingredients to suit my cooking style and ingredient stock. I also decided to use chickpeas, where normally this recipe would call for chicken. As usual, I treat most curry recipes as a recipe for sauce that can be used on any sort of meat or vegetable (or in my case, legume). Here is the result:

Chettinad CurrySARAH’S CHETTINAD CURRY

2 teaspoons poppy seeds
1/2 cup grated coconut
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 green cardamoms
scant 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 cup oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon anise
1 teaspoons red pepper (cayenne or paprika, depending on your heat tolerance)
1 (15oz) can of diced tomatoes in juice
1 tablespoons lime juice
2 (14oz) cans of chickpeas, drained, or 1 lb. meat (cubed) or vegetables
1 (14oz) can of coconut milk
fresh cilantro or coriander chutney for garnish

Combine all ingredients up to and including lime juice in the bowl of a food processor and puree. Transfer to a pan and saute the mixture for a few minutes, then add the meat, vegetable or legume or your choice. Add the coconut milk and stew until your contents reach their desired doneness. Meat can be stewed covered for a few hours, chickpeas could simply be heated through, or cooked until some of the liquid evaporates for a thicker sauce. Serve with rice and/or bread. Garnish with cilantro or chutney.

So, this recipe was quite tasty. The only thing was I’m not entirely sure it really tasted like a Chettinad Curry… or at least not quite like the Chettinad curries I’ve had in restaurants. I understand that Chettinad cuisine is probably quite varied and the curries called “Chettinad” on a menu may just be a small sampling. I also took a good bit of liberty by using coconut milk instead of the larger amount of grated coconut called for in the recipe. The poppy seeds didn’t strike me as particularly like any Chettinad curry I had before, and yet I much enjoyed the flavor they added.

In sum, I enjoyed this curry very much, and though it was not what I had expected, it was ultimately quite delicious and a dish I will certainly make again.