Thursday, June 11, 2009

Spicy, Sweet and Sour Chickpeas and Blog Stats!

This was the post I started before the last post happened. Like everything in life there is always unintended consequences. The post certainly made this blog suddenly spikes its readership. "Controversy sells man big time". I am also sleeping like a baby these days with nary a worry about the motherland, the defense of which is certainly in very good hands. These patriots are going to stop enemies dead in their tracks, fear of food scarcity and disappearing farmland -nope those will be so scared to rear their ugly head, corruption and bureaucracy well that is only in people's imagination, well the pollution you just have to suck it in and hold your nose, as for the 3/4th of the population living below the poverty line - well that is a statistic someone cooked up to get popular and the last but not the least the upwardly mobile who just can't wait to get out - well they have will have the cake and eat it too. Heck how about the disappearing tigers from wilderness, not to worry the paper tigers will easily replace them. I am positively deliriously happy about the situation that exists there. Those sharpening your blades beat it will ya? But on second thought, I like this spike in blog stats though. So go ahead "Bring it On!".


My cheek is prtoesting to the tongue already. So lets move on to more pleasant topics and straight talk, like this sweet and sour chickpeas. I arrived at this recipe on Laura Rebecca's Kitchen via Kalyn's South Beach Phase One Recipes . The same combination of onions and tomatoes with chickpeas was getting repetitive and this sounded really good and the lemon juice was too attractive to resist. I precooked the chickpeas and used but you can also add the raw chickpeas to the masala and pressure cook all in one pot. The sweet comes from the addition of some purple potatoes. It gave a slight sweetness to balance to the dish. I was in the moods for some bay leaves so added some.


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Spicy, Sweet and Sour Chickpeas
Ingredients
1. 2 Cups Chickpeas soaked overnight and cooked ( I added a handful of small red beans)
2. 1 Medium Red onions (color does not matter any onion is fine)
3. 6 green chilies slit
4. 1 1/2 roma tomatoes
5. 1/2 tbsp ginger grated
6. 1 tbsp lime juice (juice from one lime)
7. 2 tsp red chili powder
8. 1 tsp cumin powder
9. 1/2 tbsp coriander powder
10. 1 tsp chicken masala powder (substitute with garam masala powder) - optional
11. 1 Purple Potato cooked and chopped into bite sized pieces (substitute with regular potatoes 1 cup)
12. Salt to taste
13. Seasonings: Cumin seeds, bay leaves
14. 1 tsp oil

Method
1. In a pressure pan or any pan heat oil and add the cumin seeds and bay leaves
2. Add the onions and green chilies and saute till onions are translucent
3. Add the powders (cumin, chili, coriander powders) and mix well
4. Add the tomatoes and cook till they are mashed thoroughly
5. Add the cooked chickpeas with a cup of water and salt and let them boil together for 5-8 minutes. Mid way add the lemon juice and give a stir.
6. When the desired consistency is reached add the potatoes and give a good stir and turn off the heat.

Serve as is or with chapatis or even rice.

19 comments:

  1. " ... well the pollution you just have to suck it in and hold your nose, ..." ... oh Indo, where have you hidden this Indo all these days? Who cares about chickpeas, bring it all on!

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  2. LOL!!!! Love it! :D Now I *really* need to get back to work.

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  3. I see purple potatoes but somehow never have gotten around to buying them. Same with purple cabbage too. Must change that! Dunno why they don't call out to me :) Curry looks great! And good news about blog stats! :)

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  4. So true, Indo! Nothing sells like controversy, right? Chickpeas with purple potatoes look great!

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  5. :-D Keep going!

    Love the chickpeas too:-)

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  6. Sweet and sour chickpeas! Nice!

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  7. I have never had purple tomato.
    Should look for them in the shops.

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  8. The sweet and sour flavour is the one I love and yeah this is definitely for a try!

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  9. Sra, snarky does not come easy to me so. Maybe on lighter topics I should keep this going :)

    Sig, you bad girl!

    Vani, purple potatoes are found in international markets or most Asian markets. Purple cabbages are there in most grocery stores and these days they seem to be found more than the regular cabbages.

    Kalai, sad, reflection of the times we live in.

    Soma, will try :)

    Cynthia, thanks.

    Nirmala, the lime taste is a lot different than adding tamarind pulp which I do from time to time. I am sure you will like the sharp tang.

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  10. Absolutely right...nothing sells better than controversies.I have never tried using purple potatoes and cabbage....dont know why nver thot of picking it up,not sure if it becos of the color....now i see am missing things so much...guess i need to think now:)

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  11. While going through the ingredients i didn't see anything like sugar/jaggery so was wondering where the sweet came in then read the line about the purple potatoes - didn't really expect them to contribute that. Sounds delicious.

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  12. thats lovely indo...pls do pls do..sra said it right!..:)

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  13. Laavanya, you should try those purple potatoes if you have not. They actually have a white skin and look like sweet potatoes but they are purple on the inside and very sweet.

    Valli, I am in search of the next controversy :)

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  14. Love the dish...but loved the rant on the prior post even more! yeah...isn't it annoying when people are high and mighty and seem to have an opinion on everything..but are all mature and condescending (spl??)..when someone else seem to speak their mind and it is against their thought process! i keep my distance with characters like these..as my patience runs very very thin....

    Rajitha

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  15. Ok I have been trying to follow the comments on your previous post to see what stemmed this all ;-) I guess I need to check out someone called SJ, the only one I know does not blog any more, was a nice blog friend and has probably left for India. So "tarran, tarran" who is the other one , is the big question.

    On the aside if the said blogger was snide or not polite in her comment I guess she/he must be reminded of Blog Etiquette. It is not really about India or patriotism I feel, it is more about certain etiquette you follow while blogging as in real life.

    Now let me read about the chickpeas

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  16. Anything with chickpeas and I am all ears. I am tired of making the usual chana masala. I need to check the purple potatoes.

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  17. never tried chickpeas with purple potatoes, looks great

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  18. Well said, Sandeepa - this was a disagreement, a difference of opinion in views.Nothing to do with the issue at hand which could have been anything from owning rifles to veganism.
    The problem stemmed from the way the views were put forth. One can state one's views in a way that is not seen as a personal attack on the other person.

    Miri

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  19. Purple potatoes ??? I really need to check those out, loved the sweet and sour chickpeas !

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