Chickpea and Bean Dahl

Just so you know what to look for in terms of a final result with this dish, the split peas should completely break down and join the cream to make a thick sauce in which are swimming the chickpeas and the beans. If the beans are breaking down a bit, that's not a bad thing. Served as a dal with an Indian meal accompanied by rice or naan and tarkari and saag, this is a lovely buttery, creamy dish.

1 cup yellow split peas (7 oz/200g)

Salt, to taste

1 tsp cumin seeds

3 Tbsps. mild oil

2 Tbsps. fresh ginger, finely grated

2 large garlic cloves, grated (10-12g)

½ tsp red pepper flakes or 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced

½ tsp cayenne pepper

1 small tomato (3oz), chopped

1 Tbsp tomato paste

¾ cup cream (your choice, half and half, table cream or whipping cream)

2 Tbsps. (1oz/28gr) butter

½ cup water

4.5oz dried chickpeas, soaked and cooked or 15oz/425g cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed

4.5oz dried beans, soaked and cooked or 15oz/425g cooked red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper, to taste 

1. Ideally, soak the split peas for at least an hour before boiling them.
2. If using dry beans, cook in a pot separate from the peas.
3. In a medium saucepan, bring plenty of water to a boil. Add the split peas and a generous pinch of salt and boil about 50 minutes.
4. When the peas are well cooked and just starting to break down, retain 1 cup of the cooking water and drain the rest. Liquify in a blender with some of the cooking water. Set aside with the other cooked beans.
5. Meanwhile, in a large, deep skillet, heat the oil and toast the cumin seeds until they just start to turn colour and are fragrant.
6. Add the ginger, garlic, jalapeño and cayenne and cook over moderate heat until softened, about 6 minutes. 
7. Add the tomato and tomato paste and cook until the tomato is slightly broken down, about 5 minutes. 
8. Add the cream, butter and water and bring to a boil. 
9. Stir in the cooked yellow split peas, chickpeas and beans and season with salt. 
10. Simmer, covered, over low heat until thickened, about 15 minutes. Cook longer if it seems too liquid or if the peas have not broken down into a sauce.

Creamy Curried Chickpeas

Serves 4 as a main course

(OPTIONAL: Saute ½ onion chopped and 2 cloves chopped garlic for 4 to 5 mins then add ingredients)

1lb/453.6ml canned tomato puree or unseasoned tomato sauce

3 cups (1lb12oz/780g) milk

4 cups (1lb10oz/780g) cooked chickpeas (or 400 to 500g paneer) (OR BOTH, by halving the amount of each)

4 tsps. garam masala

1 tsp paprika or cayenne or Indian red chili powder or both

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1½ tsp garlic powder or 4 tsps. minced ginger and garlic or ginger-garlic paste

4 bay leaves, optional

4 Tbsps. (75g) yogurt 

+ 4 tsp yogurt for garnish drizzle

cilantro, sliced green chilies and lime for garnish

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, add all the ingredients and mix really well. Bring to a boil. Taste and adjust salt and flavor. You can add more garam masala if you like or some ground cumin and ground coriander for additional flavor.
2. There will be a lot of liquid. Cook down at least 20 minutes, maybe longer. 
3. The sauce will thicken more as it cools so you don’t want it too thick while it’s hot.
4. Serve the butter chickpeas garnished with cilantro, lemon juice, and sliced green chillies or with rice or flatbread, or naan. You can also add a garnish of cream.

Hummus

Chickpeas are really easy to grow and are so cool! The leaves are tiny and covered in fine hairs that, even in drought conditions, capture moisture from the air so that if you touch them, your hand comes away wet. Each pod only contains 2 chickpeas but there are lots per plant. Apparently, we can also grow sesame for seeds on the West Coast, but the plants need a long growing period so have to be started indoors - and they prefer poor soil! I still have to do this successfully but it means I can cook with sesame if I want to cook what can be produced locally. And hummus is such a delicious, simple source of protein and calories.

1½ cups chickpeas, cooked (285g) (½ cup dried) 

UP TO ½ cup + cooking liquid (save chickpea cooking water known as aquafaba)

3 garlic cloves, minced

Juice of 2 lemons (2 to 3 Tbsps./45g)

½ cup (130g) Tahini

¼ cup (50g) olive oil

1 tsp salt

Black pepper, to taste

1. The day before, put the chickpeas in plenty of water and bring to a boil and immediately remove from heat. Allow to soak overnight.
2. Next day, cook until soft, about an hour.
3. Drain and keep ½ cup of cooking liquid.
4. Dump all the ingredients in a food processor and run until it becomes a smooth-ish paste. Add a little more cooking water if it's too thick.
5. With a spatula scrape down the sides and process again to get any bits that may not have gone through.
6. Taste to correct the seasonings.

Chickpea Curry

I try to eat locally as much as possible, focusing mostly on foods that can potentially be grown where I live (currently the West Coast of Canada). I even have started some experiments with growing ginger. There are however some items I know I won't ever, conceivably, be able to grow here. But I rest on a part of human history that is age old, which is the spice trade. We've been moving tasty bits of vegetable matter around for a long, long time.

1 cup (328gr) dry chickpeas (3 cups cooked, approx 700g)

1 tsp salt

4 Tbsps. light vegetable oil

1/2 tsp black mustard seeds

1/4 to 1 tsp dried chilli flakes (or 1 to 4 dried chillies)

3 cloves

1/2 cinnamon stick

Optional : 1/8 teaspoon asafoetida (hing)

1 medium onion (6oz/170g), peeled and finely diced 

3-4 pressed garlic

1" fine grated ginger

2 Roma tomatoes (6oz/170g), pureed (fresh preferred, canned ok) 

Dash ground allspice

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp generic curry powder

1/4 tsp cayenne (or less - it is very hot)

1/4 cup or more water, or vegetable or chicken broth

1/2 tsp garam masala

2-3 Tbsps. finely chopped cilantro (optional)

1. Soak the chickpeas in plenty of water overnight.  Bring fresh water to a boil, add drained chickpeas, simmer until soft.
2. Heat oil in a wide sauté pan (pan should be at least 3″ deep) on med-high heat. Add mustard seeds, chillies, cloves, and cinnamon stick and Optional asafoetida. Fry for about 1 min or until fragrant.
3. Turn down the heat and add onions to the pan and cook until onions soften and become translucent. Add garlic and ginger and cook for 1-2 mins.
4. Add tomatoes to the pan, stir well, and then add allspice, coriander, cumin, turmeric, cayenne.
5. Cook for 5 minutes, mixing well (if using canned tomato, cook longer, until the tomato softens and starts to come apart). Add garam masala and beans. Cover and simmer on low for 20 mins, stirring occasionally. Add liquid (water or broth) to get desired sauciness (should be a bit on the thick/dry side).
6. Mash a quarter of the chickpeas and return to the pot and mix in to thicken what liquid there is.
7. Turn off heat, garnish with cilantro, and serve over rice, or with flatbread, parathas, or naan.

Salade de carrottes (Carrot Salad)

This has become one of my go-to salads instead of leaf lettuce. Sometimes I'm looking to pair a different flavor, and sometimes it's for the colour. Seasonally speaking, it's also a way of having a crunch salad when leaf lettuce isn't available.

1 lb carrots, peeled and grated

2 Tbsps minced chives or chopped green onion (15g)

2 Tbsps minced fresh parsley

Dressing

3 Tbsps. (36g) fine olive oil*

2 Tbsps. (27g) lemon juice

2 tsps. (14g) honey or maple syrup

1 tsp (7g) Dijon mustard

½ tsp ground cumin

¼ tsp salt

1. In a large bowl combine the carrot, chive or green onion and parsley.
2. To make the dressing, whisk all of the ingredients together in a small bowl until emulsified.
3. Pour the dressing over the carrot mixture and toss until the carrots are evenly coated. 
4. Allow the salad to marinate for at least 20 minutes before serving. Toss again before serving. 

*I don't usually talk about 'using only the best' of anything, but I did bother to point out that a fine extra-virgin olive oil would be choice in this instance. Regular olive oil is mainly for cooking and doesn't have much in the way of flavor. However, in a salad dressing of this kind you want to taste the olive oil, which is why a real cold-pressed, extra-virgin olive oil, preferably unfiltered, is best for a really tasty dressing but, if you don't have any, it'll be just fine.