10 minute chickpea curry

Don't you think this meal looks like an alien or maybe my funny valentine?



When it's too hot to cook...just cheat. A week of temperatures over 38 degrees (that's 100 degrees F to the rest of you) doesn't inspire much cooking, but still I have trouble with the whole just salad for dinner thing, so I cooked, just a little. It is a little Americany in it's combination of mixing two pre-packaged ingredients together but bear with me, it is more natural and has a lot of flavour. The two ingredients are chickpeas in a can - simple, and a jar (well, part of a jar) of Indian chutney. (see below for more on my love of these) Introducing...

The Ten Minute Curry!

Heat 3 heaped tablespoons of brinjal (eggplant) chutney in a saucepan and tip in 1 drained can of chickpeas. Cook, stirring occassionally, for about 10 minutes. Add a little water / liquid from the chickpea can if it gets a little burny.

Serve with salad and a raita made from 1 c unsweetened yoghurt, 1/2 smallish cucumber, cubed, and some chopped fresh mint or a pinch of dill.


Pickles!
I love buying these from local Indian/Asian stores: India knows chutneys! My favourites are lime pickle, mango chutney and brinjal (eggplant)pickle. They have lots of spices that you don't have to prepare yourself, you can read all the ingredients - all real things, not numbers! One of the real ingredients though is sugar, which I try not to cook with much these days, so remember that. But for the every now and again meal, brilliant!

Here are some other ways I like to use these pickles:

- Salad dressing with a kick: Get a nice big teaspoonful (chop any big chunks up finely), mix with 1/4 olive oil.

- Pizza spread: Use in place of tomato paste (a thin spear only) for exotic pizzas. Then just top base with some cheese and one or two toppings like zucchini, pumpkin, whatever.

- as a rub for roast veggies: Mix a tablespoon of pickle with some olive oil in a bowl, tip over your roasting pan of chopped veggies ready to go into the oven. Rub the pickly-oil all over the veg using your (gloved) hands. Roast, keeping an eye on them for burning bits. So yum.

- Dip: Mix with yoghurt for an easy dip that might really impress people (little do they know!). Serve with veg crudites or what you will.