Sweet and Spicy Chickpea Salad

This basic chickpea recipe is one of my favorite staples for the party and potluck season that we are heading into. It essentially consists of a spicy base, and is cooked in a crock pot, infused with a lot of fresh scallions, tomatoes, black pepper, fresh lemon and pomegranate seeds. This time I did something a little different, I cooked the chickpeas and marinated them in pomegranate juice, to give them a nice rich dark color and them followed my normal procedure. It produced a lovely tangy dish with a nice touch of sweetness.

Sweet and Spicy Chickpea Salad

Serves 8

Ingredients

2 cups cooked chickpeas (till the are still not very soft)

2 cups pom wonderful juice

1 tsp black or sea salt

3-4 tbsp oil

1 tsp whole cumin seeds

1 tsp whole fennel seeds

1 onion finely chopped

1 tbsp freshly grated ginger

2-3 green chillies minced

2 tsp salt

2 tsp garam masala powder

1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes

1 cup chopped fresh scallions

1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 cup fresh mint

3 limes

To garnish

A generous amount of freshly ground black pepper

Chopped cilantro

Grated radish

1 cup Pom wonderful pomegranate seeds

Method of Preparation

1. Soak the chickpeas in the juice for 5-6 hours.

2. Heat the oil and add the cumin and fennel seeds and when they sizzle.

3. Add the onion, ginger and chillies and cook for 10 minutes until beginning to turn golden brown.

4. Place the chickpeas with the juice in a large crock pot, add in the onion mixture with the salt and garam masala and simmer for 3 hours till the juice is absorbed and the chickpeas are soft.

5. Mix in the scallion and tomatoes and cook for another 30 minutes.

6. Stir in the cilantro, mint and squeeze the lime juice.

7. Serve warm (not hot) with a lot of black pepper, cilantro, grated radish and pomegranate seeds.