Pindi Chana

This is my attempt at making a version of a chickpea curry I had at an Indian restaurant in Marylebone called Cinnamon Spice. This was a pretty standard curry house but it had one thing on the menu that stood out from the usual mix of Jalfrezis and Bhunas and this was it. Mainly because of the inclusion of sun-dried mango which sweetened the nutty chickpeas. I first made this on the Saturday before the barbecue but stupidly added chilli powder which overpowered the fragrant chickpeas. So I tried it again when Jim, Andrew and Steve came over for the England V Russia match. It's quite a dry curry so it works well with a tarka dal and rice

Pindi Chana (Serves 4)

250g dried chickpeas
4 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
4 cardamom pods
1 tea bag
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 inch of root ginger, grated
1 green bird's-eye chilli, finely chopped
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp garam masala
2 tomatoes, skinned and chopped
1 tbsp tamarind paste
400g cooked new potatoes
4 dried mango slices, sliced thinly
Handful of coriander leaves, chopped

1) Soak the chickpeas overnight in plenty of water. The next day, drain the chickpeas and cover them with 1.5 litres of fresh cold water, adding the teabag, cloves, cinnamon stick and cardamoms. Cook for one hour until softened. You can cook the potatoes at this stage too. Just cut themin half and boil for 15-20 minutes.
2) Drain the chickpeas, reserving the water. Then fry the onion in some groundnut or sunflower oil for 15 minutes. Then add the garlic, ginger and chilli and cook for a further minute.
3) Meanwhile dry-roast the cumin and coriander seeds in a frying pan for a minute. Grind in a spice or coffee grinder or a pestle and mortar and add to the pan with the garam masala. Cook for futher minute.
4) Next add the tomatoes and the chickpeas to the pan with the reserved flavoured water and season with salt and pepper. When the tomatoes have disintegrated, add the potatoes and continue cooking until the sauce has reduced right down. Add the mango slices and potatoes and heat through for a few minutes before throwing in the coriander leaves right at the end.

Tarka Dal

2 tbsp groundnut oil
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp black mustard seeds
2 garlic cloves, crushed
10 fenugreek seeds
1 inch root ginger, grated
150g red lentils
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 pint water
2 tomatoes, skinned and chopped
1 tbsp tamarind paste
Hanful of chopped coriander
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala

1) Heat one tablespoon of oil in a saucepan, add the onion and cook for 10 minutes. Next add the mustard seeds, cover the pan and cook until they pop. Then add the garlic and ginger and continue cooking for a further minute.
2) Now add the spices and salt and cook for another minute before adding the tomato puree and heating through for a further minute.
3) Next add the lentils, tamarind paste and tomatoes and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the lentils are cooked.
4) Finally, to make the tarka bit, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a frying pan, add the chilli powder and garam masala and keep on the heat for a minute before adding it to the dal along with the coriander.

I put the curries and the rice on the table and as the boys helped themselves I couldn't help but think it was all a bit Joliver. I could imagine him saying "You get the lads around for the football and make a curry." I always complained that no one does this but now I have. At least the food was tasty. From start the finish the Pindi Chana appears to take along time but once the chickpeas are softened it takes hardly any time to cook. It was so much better without the chilli powder, too. This is a very fragrant dish and it smells fantastic. The tea gives the chickpeas a pleasing dark colour, too. One of my finer curries.