Sweet and Sour Green Chickpeas and Spinach Curry - My Legume Love Affair 23 and Green Gourmet 1

It's not easy staying green. That's what I learned when I made this glorious recipe using the uncommonly beautiful and tasty green chickpea. I'd fully expected to prepare this with the fresh-from-the-pod variety, a gobsmacked, serendipitous discovery at my local supermarket, of all places. A big sack of pods, however, only yielded a cupful of beanie babies. I was forced to eat the lot of them out of one scoop of my curled fingers.

Fresh chickpeas are irresistible when steamed for fifteen minutes,
then dusted with a ground spice of your choice and a pinch of salt.

Plan B fared far better, but the dried beans must have been as old as the Grand Canyon. They took three hours of simmering after an eight-hour soak to become tender. Though my patience paid off, I was rather perplexed that they'd turned from a jaunty verdant hue to one best described as maroon. The longer they cooked, the darker they became. But I am not complaining. It really doesn't matter what color they are. This dish is a knockout. It tastes like I struck gold.

Dried, this variety is much smaller than the more common
white chickpea, even after it is cooked.

Green Chickpeas with Spinach (Palak Hara Chana) from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer.

Given my changes to this recipe are quite insignificant (oil reduced to 1 tablespoon; water reduced to 1 1/2 cups; chickpeas cooked the day before), I will not venture an "adapted" rewrite. You can find the full recipe here, miraculously as it is presented in the actual cookbook, PDF'd by Google Preview.

~~~~~~~~~~~

This is my own contribution to MLLA 23, hosted here by me. Please stay tuned for the round-up, likely at end of the week, when I will announce the winners of May's two random drawings while I show off all your fabulous recipes. I've received at least another dozen just today. Please bear with me while I sort through them. I expect to visit and comment on each on Tuesday, June 1. Thanks so much for spoiling me with your participation! I hope you've all enjoyed your weekend!

Diana of A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa will be announcing MLLA 24 shortly. Please stop by to feed her with your legume posts during the month of June.

This recipe is also for Preeti of Write Food, inaugurating her Green Gourmet Event. You have until June 9 to send her your gorgeous and healthy green recipes.

The Well-Seasoned Cook