Chickpeas with Garlic, Tomatoes, & Green Chilies
Chickpeas with Garlic, Tomatoes, & Green Chilies
from Madhur Jaffrey’s World of the East Vegetarian Cooking
To serve: This dish may be served with almost any Indian meal, accompanied by a green vegetable, a yogurt relish and a bread. When my daughters’ friends drop in at odd hours, hungry of course, I often put out a bowl of these chickpeas, some pita bread, and a quick cucumber and yogurt combination.
18 to 24 cloves garlic, peeled
4 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 tsp. whole cumin seeds
2 cups tomato sauce, canned or homemade
3 20-oz cans of drained chickpeas or 6 1/2 cups boiled, drained chickpeas
6 medium potatoes, boiled, peeled & cut into 3/4 in. cubes
1 1/2-2 tsp. salt
5 fresh hot green chilies
2 tsp. ground cumin seeds
1 tsp. ground amchoor or lemon juice
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
Put the garlic into the container of a food processor or blender. Add 1/4 cup water and blend until you have a smooth paste.
Heat the oil in a 10-inch-wide, heavy pot over a medium-high flame. When hot, put in the cumin seeds. A few seconds later, put in the garlic paste. Fry for about 2 minutes, stirring all the time. Add the tomato sauce. Keep stirring and cook for another minute. Add the drained chickpeas, diced potatoes, 2 cups water, salt, green chilies, ground cumin, lemon, and cayenne. Stir gently and bring to a simmer. Cover, turn heat to low, and simmer gently for 20 minutes.
Brazil Nut Roast
Brazil Nut Roast
Croute:
1 lb. frozen puff pastry
Beaten egg replacer
Nut roast:
2 large onions, chopped
4 t. margarine
3 1/4 c. Brazil nuts, finely ground
2 2/3 c. fresh fine bread crumbs
1/2 t. dried thyme
3 t. lemon juice
Egg replacer equivalent of 2 eggs
Pinch each of:
Grated nutmeg, ground cloves, and ground cinnamon Salt (optional) and freshly ground pepper
Stuffing:
2 2/3 c. fresh fine white bread crumbs
1/4 c. chopped parsley
Grated rind of one lemon
1 T. lemon juice
1 t. each dried thyme and marjoram
1 t. grated onion
6 t. margarine
Water if necessary (to prevent sticking)
Garnish:
8 clementine halves filled with cranberries
Thyme sprigs
Preheat oven to 400 F. To make the nut roast, saut the onion in the margarine for 10 minutes, until soft but not browned. Remove from heat and add the remaining nut roast ingredients.
Make the stuffing by mixing all the ingredients together into a soft mixture that holds together.
Roll out the pastry on a floured board to a 12 x 14 inch rectangle.
Form the stuffing into a sausage about 10 inches long and place down the middle of the pastry. Pile the nut roast mixture all over the stuffing, covering it. Fold the ends of the pastry up to enclose the nut mixture completely. Tuck in the ends, the place on a damp baking sheet, joint side down. Mark a lattice design on the top. Make one or two seam holes, decorate with pastry trimmings, and brush with beaten egg replacer. Bake for 30 minutes, until crisp. Garnish with clementine halves filled with cranberries and thyme sprigs.
Tofu in Black Bean Sauce
Tofu in Black Bean Sauce
This recipe calls for deep fried tofu which you can make yourself or buy from an oriental store. The black bean sauce and fermented black beans can also be found at most oriental stores.
Serves 3-4
2 blocks firm fried tofu, in 3/4 inch cubes
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 quarter-sized pieces of ginger, minced
2 tbsp. oil
2 or 3 green onions, chopped green and white parts
1 tsp. fermented black beans, rinsed briefly in water to remove some of the salt, then coarsely chopped
1 tbsp. black bean sauce
1 cup vegetable stock or water
1 tbsp. sesame oil
Heat oil in large skillet or wok. Add the ginger and garlic; saute for about 20 seconds until the aroma “explodes.”
Add the black beans and the green onion and saute for about 10 seconds.
Stir in the black bean paste and vegetable stock; mix well. Add the tofu cubes.
Turn the heat down to maintain a strong simmer; cover and let cook about 20 minutes. Add the sesame oil and give a brief stir.
Serve over rice.
Notes:
* I typically triple the black beans and black bean sauce, and double the garlic and ginger.
* I usually don’t add two tbsp. oil at the beginning—maybe one,or .5 plus .5 tbsp. sesame oil, then the rest of the sesame oil at the end. The sesame oil does do good things for the dish, though–leave it in.
* I also usually add mushrooms.
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