Chickpea & Vegetable Kurma
Photo by Vinita Punjabi
Ingredients
- 3 carrots, cubed and steamed
- 2 cups green beans cut into medium-sized pieces, steamed
- 250 g chickpeas, soaked overnight and cooked
- 2 tsp black mustard seeds (rai)
- 1½ tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
- 1 tsp fennel seeds (saunf)
- 3 nos. 1″ long cinnamon sticks
- 3 cloves
- 3 pods cardamom
- 2 tsp roasted and ground coriander seeds (dhania)
- 1 tbsp turmeric powder (haldi)
- 1 tsp date paste
- 3 tsp tomato paste
- 1 cup tamarind water
- Unrefined salt to taste
- 10 curry leaves
- Fresh coriander leaves, to garnish
For the Sauce
- 4 onions, chopped
- ½ cup sliced unpeeled ginger
- 1 whole bulb of garlic, peeled
- 1 small green chilli
- 1 cup coconut milk or grated coconut
Method
‘Fry’ the onions, garlic, ginger and chilli with a little water, until the onion becomes golden. Allow to cool and grind along with the grated coconut or coconut milk, to make a paste.
Dry temper the seeds until they start to sputter. Add cinnamon, cloves, cardamom pods, curry leaves and then add the onion-garlic-ginger paste. Keep stirring. Add coriander powder and turmeric and stir until a bright yellow. Add more turmeric if needed. Add date paste, tomato paste, tamarind water and salt. Cook until the sauce becomes thick. Add the chickpeas and steamed vegetables. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.
Tip
If you don’t add salt in the water while cooking, the chickpeas become really soft!
Serves 8