So now that you made all this garlic naan, what are you gonna serve with it?

Spicy Indian Chickpeas!

Another winning recipe from Mad Hungry: Feeding Men & Boys by Lucinda Scala Quinn.

So far I’ve made:

-Tessy’s Banana Bread

-Italian Fries

-The Perfect Fried Egg

-Savory Chicken Pocket Pies

(all well loved!)

My husband is a huge chickpea lover and this dish was well loved/received!  It will be making it’s way into our current meal rotation.

It was a breeze to put together and extremely delicious.   I had all of the ingredients on hand so that’s an added plus!  No extra trip to the store today. Phew.

It’s also one of those dishes that gets better the next day. Which is great because we had a ton leftover!  I brought some to work for lunch and jazzed it up with some fresh lemon juice. (I reheated the naan in the toaster oven and it was perfect!)  Lucinda is right.  The dish is good hot or cold!

Oh by the way- it’s vegan.  Perhaps this might tempt my vegan best friend to come down from Oregon and visit me?  What do you think, woot?

So gather your ingredients:

Rinse the canned chickpeas.

Reserve some of the chickpea liquid from the can.

Make your spice cocktail.

Saute some onions, garlic, and ginger with it.

Add that glob of tomato paste in there.  Stir it around.

Add the chickpeas to the mixture.

Toss in the reserved liquid. Cover & simmer!

Now yer ready to party!

She suggests you:

Serve in a shallow bowl garnished with sliced onion, tomato wedges, and slices of green chillies.

For our dinner, I added some plain yogurt, small tomatoes, cilantro & a bit of onions nestled in the back there.   Lemon adds a nice tang.  Thanks for another winner, Lucinda!

Spiced Indian Chickpeas

(Recipe Mad Hungry: Feeding Men & Boys)

Serves 6-8

• 2 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 3-inch piece of peeled fresh ginger, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground  cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground garam masala
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 3 15 oz. cans chickpeas, drained (1 cup liquid reserved)

1. Heat a large skillet and swirl in the oil. Add the chopped onion, garlic and ginger. Saute until soft and lightly golden, 5 to 6 minutes.

2. In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon, garam masala, cumin, coriander, cloves, cayenne and salt. Add to the onion mixture and cook and stir the spices to lightly toast, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for another few minutes to combine.  The color should be dark red.

3. Add the chickpeas plus the cup of reserved liquid. Stir to combine. Cover and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, removing the cover in the last few minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit for a minute to allow the beans to soak up the spice flavors.  Season with salt to taste.