Chickpea Vindaloo

I was flipping through my giant binder of recipes I've collected and drafted over the years and found a recipe for Chickpea Vindaloo that used to be one of my very favorite ways to enjoy chickpeas. Somehow or other, I haven't made it for at least a year but the cold temperatures here made this a perfect choice for dinner. It was every bit as yummy as I remembered it. In the past, I have replaced the potatoes with fried paneer cheese cubes.

On the menu with Carrot Rice.

Chickpea Vindaloo

1 cup of dried chickpeas
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped

3 teaspoons of finely minced ginger
2 cloves of finely minced garlic
2 - 3 hot red or green chillies
1 1/2 teaspoons of ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons of ground turmeric
1 cinnamon stick
3 green cardamom pods
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon of cayenne

2 cups of sliced mushrooms
2 ripe tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped
3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar

2 potatoes, diced
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
2/3 cup of yogurt
sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Soak the chickpeas overnight. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook for about an hour, or until the chickpeas are buttery soft. Reserve roughly 2 cups of the cooking liquid, drain the beans and set aside.

In a large pot, over medium heat, heat the oil until hot. Add the onion and cook for a few minutes. Next add the ginger, garlic, hot chillies, ground spices, cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, and bay leaf. Stir and fry for a few minutes longer.

Increase the heat to high and stir in the tomatoes and mushrooms. Cook for 3 - 4 minutes, or until most of the mushroom liquid has evaporated. Stir in the vinegar.

Now add the cooked chickpeas, the potatoes, the tomato paste, yogurt, salt and pepper and roughly 1 1/4 of the reserved chickpea water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Add more of the reserved cooking liquid if necessary to achieve a stew-like consistency. Remove the cardamom pods, cinnamon stick and bay leaf before serving.

Serves 5 - 6.