Sweet and Sour Chickpeas for 3 - events!!

I think I am a pleased woman since I blush so much
I am so soft and shiny to your delicate touch
But look what I have for relatives, so different with no common string
One used for smoking, one for hotness, one used to refer idler and one referred as veggie's King

I am not what you refer to me most often
I am 'fruit' of labour but never called one so
I am neither a wolf nor a peach in the scale of one to ten
but then why do you think I am called one as so?

I can go green with envy, or completely red with anger
A little crown on my head makes my walk look like a swagger
You cant do without me in your day to day cooking
Tell me what veggie I am without too much thinking.

No, I did not become a poet all of a sudden! This is what jumped out at me when I opened Box 2 of "Open Sesame-2" event. These riddles are the poetic words of Dhivya of "Culinary Bazaar" for the event organised by Siri of "Siri's Corner". This was my first riddle, and I was super nervous! It reflected on my guess, I guess. I guessed it to be bell peppers, but I was wrong! Oooops, there went my 25 points!! Then I got the first hint which was "In early 17th century, these were referred 'Love Apples'". Well, I sent my second guess... ooooh yes, the pleasant woman who blushes a lot is the TOMATO! Phew! that went well, 20 points in the bag! A message to all who havent signed up for Open Sesame - please do, its loads of fun doing the riddle! I loved it!

Coming to the recipe, this is a quick and easy recipe (and certainly new to me) which can be used as a side dish with rice or with any of the Indian breads. As the name implied, the chickpeas curry was sweet and sour, but a little too sour for my tastes. JM also remarked that it is a bit sour (note: sour not bitter) which I should have expected with tamarind and tomatoes. I had used fewer tomatoes than suggested, but even then, I felt that for my tastes it shouldve been a bit more on the spicier side. So I would suggest you to reduce either the amount of tamarind or tomatoes. But I think it would be ideal for chaats. I should tell you that it looked awesome with a thick gravy and it tasted heavenly with naan. I used canned (and thereby cooked) chickpeas and so my work was reduced in half. Enjoy!! :-) For another tasty recipe with tomatoes, check out my Turkish tomato pilaf.



Recipe (Serves 6) :

Chickpeas - 2 1/4 cups (500g)

Oil or ghee - 2 tbsp

Large red onions - 2, thinly sliced

Ginger - 3/4", finely chopped

Sugar - 2 tsp

Ground coriander - 2 tsp

Ground cumin - 2 tsp

Chilli powder - a pinch (otional)

Garam masala - 1 tsp

Tamarind puree - 3 tbsp

Ripe tomatoes - 4, chopped

Water - 2 cups

Chopped cilantro or mint - 4 tbsp

Method:

Soak the chickpeas (if using raw peas) overnight in 8 cups of water and drain.

Cook the peas in 8 cups of water until tender. Drain and keep aside.

Heat the oil in a heavy-based pan.

Fry the onion until soft and brown.

Stir in the ginger and stir fry for about 30 seconds.

Add the chickpeas, sugar, coriander, cumin, chilli powder, garam masala and a pinch of salt.

Stir and then add the tamarind puree and tomatoes.

Simmer for 2-3 minutes.

Pour 2 cups of water, bring to a boil and cook until the sauce is thickened.

Stir in the coriander leaves.

Serve warm.

Source: The Food of Indian - a journey for food lovers by Priya Wickramasinghe.

Tips:

1. I used canned cooked chickpeas (425g/15oz).
2. I used 3 medium yellow onions and chopped them up finely, rather than slicing it.
3. I had store-bought tamarind puree.
4. To make up the 2 cups of water, use the drained liquid from the can + water.
5. Since I wanted a somewhat dry curry, I kept the chickpeas mixture on the heat longer, to make it drier.

So here is my submission to the OS-2 event with our dear vegetable TOMATO....Well, I've actually targeted three events with this recipe! I am also sending this recipe to JFI - Tamarind hosted by Sig of Live to eat and Eat Healthy - Protein Rich Contest hosted by Sangeeth of the Art of Cooking Indian Food. Enjoy!