Monday, May 27, 2019

Pantry dinner: spiced chickpeas, turmeric rice, cucumbers in yogurt





A stone cold classic in the genre of healthy, filling, flavorful, inexpensive pantry meals. Keep a garam masala you like, some cardamom pods, and ground turmeric. Aside from the cucumber yogurt, this is all stuff you can keep around for weeks. Pro tip, frozen naan is super fast and super good and not necessary or anything but totally worth keeping around to toss in the oven with this. If you insist, the rice can be replaced with riced cauliflower for a low carb option. (Obviously we're talking normal low carb here, not keto, but if that's what you're looking for you probably knew that.)

Da Beans:

1 big or small can chickpeas
1big or small can tomatoes - chopped, diced, whole, pureed, whatever
Ghee or butter (or oil)
Garlic, a few cloves, minced (or smashed up in a morter & pestle if you have one)
Ginger, an inch or two, grated
An onion, diced
Salt
Tumeric, an inch or two of the fresh root grated or a teaspoon or two of dried
Basmati rice
Plain yogurt
A cucumber
Garam masala, OR some of as many of these as you've got. Whole spices last longer, and can be crushed in a morter & pestle, spice grinder, coffee grinder, etc. If you go to South Asian grocery store, they have a ton of spices (AND blends), whole or ground, in large quantities for very cheap.
-coriander
-cumin
-cardamom (whole black cardamom is so awesome, it's smoked, throw a few in the pot and fish them out at the end)
-black pepper
-small amounts of cinnamon and clove
-fenugreek
-awijain/carom
-nigella

For the beans:

Heat a decent amount of ghee (a few tablespoons I guess?) over medium-high heat and add onions and a pinch of salt. Stir and let the onions cook down for as long as you have - really caramelizing them takes time, like 30+ minutes, usually more, and makes a really delicious base, but if you're in a hurry just fry them up until they're limp and translucent. You can also add some water to the pan and let it cook off - that helps soften them faster. When they're as cooked as you're cooking them, take out a few tablespoons and set aside to add to the rice. Throw the garlic and ginger in the pan and saute until it's all getting a bit of color. Add spices and fry them for 30 seconds or so. Add tomatoes and chickpeas and stir to combine, scraping up the bottom of the pan. Add a splash of water, and let the whole thing simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for at least 5 minutes, but I feel like 20 is really where things start melding - add more water as needed. When the sauce is coating the chickpeas in an appetizing way, you're good to go.



For the rice, rice cooker method, because tbh I only ever use a rice cooker - no worries if you don't, Google can help! I bought a $12 one at Target as a college freshman, immediately after moving back to the States, and I've never been without one since. I make a lot of rice and a lot of kitchen staples would go before I'd give up having one. Being able to reliably make it with almost no effort is a cornerstone of my cooking, and I honestly think that properly cooked, properly selected rice is one of the best culinary pleasures, but bad rice can ruin a meal. It doesn't have to be a fancy special cultivar or sourced from specific producers or anything, but rinsing, a 1:1 ratio (important!!! for some reason a 1:2 ratio is on the internet a lot, do not do that with white rice!!!) of rice/water and pairing the right rice with the right food (jasmine with Thai, basmati with Indian, etc - whatever is eaten in that area) makes a HUGE difference.
Uh, anyway, no, I do not have an overdeveloped attachment to rice, why would you even ask that?


Measure out the rice (follow your heart, less is not more, idk what to tell you here) and rinse until the water is not very cloudy anymore, drain well in a strainer, and dump it in the rice cooker. Heat a few more spoonfuls of ghee in a sauce pan and toss in some spices. I like a few whole black cardamom pods, several green cardamom pods, some coriander (I grind it, you don't have to), and black pepper. Fry 'em up for a few seconds and then add the reserved onions. Add your grated turmeric or a few spoonfuls of powder, some salt, and fry the whole thing up a bit. Measure out an equal volume of water (or broth!!) to the rice and add it to the pan.  A few slices of fresh ginger and a couple of bay leaves could go in at this point, too. Taste and make sure it's pleasantly salty - having enough salt makes or breaks this dish, and if it's not, add more. Pour all of this in the rice cooker, stir it up, and start it. (To use cauliflower instead, stop before you add the liquid and just add the riced cauliflower to the ghee and aromatics, and saute until it's as soft as you like it.)


For the cucumber yogurt:

Peel a cucumber, but do a bad job so there's still some bits of green. Grate it on a box grater and put it in a mesh strainer to drain, pressing out the liquid until it's fairly dry. Mix with a bunch - I guess a cup? Maybe less? idk - of plain, preferably full fat yogurt or sour cream, salt, pepper,a little grated ginger, a bit of cumin, and a pinch of whatever spicy chili flakes you've got. Some people like garlic, I like sliced scallions and cilantro.



Dish up some rice, scoop on some beans, spoon on some yogurt, eat up. There's a generous amount of mostly plant based protein, fiber, and plenty of nutrients in there along with a delightful contrast of textures and flavors!

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