Recipe: Tomato chickpeas served with naan, rice and lemon yoghurt

This is the last (for a while) of my budget series. I have included the chicken stock from the January recipe but you can swap it out for vegetable stock to make it veggie.

Chickpeas make very versatile meals – you can serve them with virtually anything! They are a mainstay of many cultures both Mediterranean, Asian and Arabian.

This recipe is a bit of an amalgam but again lends itself to the addition of potatoes, spinach or anything else you fancy.

The roasted red peppers are a bit of a luxury in March, but the ones I used were from a jar I made back when they were plentiful and can be changed to whatever is on hand.

The photo shows this dish made with a jar of the large Spanish chickpeas we sell, which are extra specially nice, but a tin can be used instead.

Ingredients

For the chickpeas

Two tbsp olive oil

125g onion finely sliced

One jar or one tin 400g tin chickpeas, drained

Three garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

2cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely diced

Half tsp ground turmeric

Half tsp ground coriander

Half tsp ground cumin

Half tsp chilli flakes (optional)

One tsp smoked paprika

Half can tomatoes

550ml chicken stock

One tbsp tomato purée

Half tsp sugar

Half tsp salt

Two tbsp roasted red peppers

For the topping

Two tbsp ghee, butter or oil

Two garlic cloves, sliced

One tsp cumin seed

One mild green chilli slit open with a knife

Fresh coriander

For the yoghurt dressing

Juice of half a lemon

Five tbsp Greek-style yoghurt

Half tsp salt

To serve

Naan

Cooked rice

Put the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and add the onions. Stir and fry until they are beginning to turn translucent and add the garlic and ginger.

Stir and fry for a minute more then add the turmeric, ground coriander, ground cumin, paprika and chilli flakes. Stir to mix in and add the chicken stock, tomatoes and the chick peas.

Cook for about 20 minutes over a low heat until the liquid is beginning to reduce and add the tomato purée. Season with the salt and sugar to taste.

To make the yoghurt – add all the ingredients to a small bowl and whip with a fork to combine.

When you are ready to serve, pour the chickpea mixture into a warmed serving bowl and top with the red peppers. Keep warm.

Heat the ghee, butter or oil until hot and tip in the cumin seeds, followed by the garlic slices and the whole green chilli. Be careful as it may splutter.

When the garlic slices are nicely browned, pour the contents off the pan over the chickpeas. Sprinkle with chopped coriander and serve with the warmed rice, naan and lemon yoghurt.

Add some more lemon quarters if you like to squeeze over the chickpeas.