Black Chickpeas with Roasted Coconut and Fragrant Spices

In addition to cookbooks, one of the greatest sources of culinary inspiration is certainly fellow bloggers. I've printed off, bookmarked and starred literally hundreds of recipes that I've come across since I started Lisa's Kitchen just over two years ago. While it is certain I will never manage to cook each recipe that catches my attention (there are simply not enough meals or time in a day), it sometimes happens that I am trying out a blogged dish within days of discovering it. This was the case with Pooja's Kerala-style chickpea curry, a dish we are told is commonly eaten for breakfast along with steamed rice cakes in that region.

I always have a healthy variety of dried beans on hand, and after reading through Pooja's recipe, remembered the rather neglected black chickpeas at the back of the bean and grain shelf. Brown in color, but commonly referred to as black chickpeas or kala channa, they are smaller than the more popular yellow chickpea and denser and chewier. This unique dark curry is pungent and aromatic, and served with nutty brown rice, makes for a satisfying and balanced Indian vegetarian dinner.

Black Chickpeas with Roasted Coconut and Fragrant Spices

Recipe by Lisa Turner
Adapted from My Experience With Cooking
Cuisine: Indian
Published on June 15, 2009

Black chickpeas simmered in an aromatic spiced tomato sauce

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Spice blends:

3/4 cup dried grated unsweetened coconut
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 cinnamon sticks, broken into pieces
6 dried cloves
1/2 teaspoon cardamon seeds
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
2 star anise

Ingredients:

1 cup dried black chickpeas
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
1 medium onion, chopped
1-inch piece fresh ginger, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon asafetida
2 to 3 fresh green chilies, seeded and finely chopped
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon Kashmiri or other chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 large tomatoes, finely chopped
generous handful of dried curry leaves
2 1/4 cups water
1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste

Instructions:

Rinse the chickpeas and soak in several inches of water for at least 10 hours or overnight. Drain and rinse, then transfer to a large saucepan and cover with fresh water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the chickpeas are tender — about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Drain and set aside.
Dry roast the coconut over medium-low heat in a large saucepan for a few minutes. Add the shallots and continue to stir until the coconut turns a brownish-red color. Grind to a powder and set aside.
In the same saucepan, dry roast the cinnamon, cloves, fennel, anise and cardamon seeds over medium-low heat for a few minutes until fragrant. Grind to a powder and set aside.
Again in the same saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. When hot, add the mustard seeds and stir until the seeds turn grey and begin to splutter and pop. Add the onions and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Now add the ginger and stir for another minute. Toss in the asafetida, stir once, and then add the chilies, coriander, cumin, chili powder, turmeric, cayenne and paprika. Stir for a minute and then add the tomato, curry leaves, ground cinnamon and seed powder, and salt. Cook for 5 minutes or until the tomato is soft, stirring frequently.
Add the chickpeas, ground coconut and shallot powder, and 2 1/4 cups of water. Simmer over medium-low heat for 10 minutes or until the sauce is nice and thick.

Makes 4 servings