Spicy Chickpeas

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This is a recipe I posted last year, but I just took some pictures to go along with it. This is a perfect way to get tons of fiber into your belly, and costs pretty much nothing to make. It's like, a can of chickpeas. Come on!

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Only recently (=the past 2 months) have i been using indian/south asian spices, and now i'm quite addicted to them. From the more user friendly spices like coriander, mustard seed, and bay leaf, to the more exotic and wonderfully potent cumin, curry, and turmeric, it's been a fantastic flavor explosion. My roommate, who is from Sri Lanka, introduced me to all this, and was really happy to show me how to use these spices to bring out the best in lentils, grains, and even good old chicken.



The following recipe is one of my favorites, especially because it literally takes 10 minutes to prepare and is filling enough to eat for dinner. I usually make the whole thing, then eat half for dinner and half for when i get hungry again later.

• 1 tbsp olive oil (or butter, i suppose)
  
• 1/2 a big onion, sliced into small pieces
• a few cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp of ginger
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1/2 to 1 tbsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 can of chickpeas (=garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained

1. Start with a medium saucepan on med high heat. Sauté onions, garlic, and ginger in oil till they're golden. I usually ignore my own advice and used more than "several" cloves of garlic.


2. Throw in bay leaves, mustard seeds, coriander, and red pepper flakes. Mix, and prepare to cough a bit...burning spices makes the air pretty toxic :)


3. Dump your chickpeas into the pan and mix.

4. Sprinkle with cumin and turmeric. Mix again. Turmeric is one of those spices that are very intimidating at first, but the more you get to know it, the more you see its depth, uniqueness, and intense flavor.


5. Lower heat to med low and continue to mix until flavors have saturated the chickpeas (a few minutes).

6. Serve hot with toasted pita pocket for filling and eating.


I know buying these spices at a grocery store might cost a fortune. The key is to find a local indian or other south asian grocery store (ask around, people will know). I buy these spices by the bulk for very very cheap, and they're usually excellent quality because they are directly imported.



Enjoy, let me know if you need help!