Franita's Chickpea and Cauliflower Curry

This recipe I found at www.threemonkeysonline.com.

You never know quite what will appeal when you are surfing large numbers of recipe pages, and I found Franita's intro irresistible. The cauliflower and chickpea recipe is not too bad either and has entered the repertoire.

Now, before you jump on my throat: I know perfectly well that everybody (and their dogs, sometimes, unfortunately) has a recipe for curry. This is mine, and you are welcome to send me yours! (Franita)

For the dish itself:

What you need (for two people)

3 teaspoons spice mix
1 medium size cauliflower
250 gr. cooked chickpeas
3 garlic cloves
1 vegetable cube
tomato paste
olive oil,
water,
parsley

What to do

Choose a big pan or better a wok. Sizzle the garlic in a little oil and add three teaspoons of curry powder. Throw in the cauliflower cut in small bits, and stir well to get the little flowers coated in oil and spices. Add 2-3 glasses of hot water and get it to simmer. After 10 minutes add the chickpeas , the cube crumbled, and a little tomato paste. Keep it simmering for 10-15 minutes, making sure it does not dry up (in which case keep adding hot water).

Garnish with abundant parsley leaves and serve with boiled rice.

For the spice mix

2 teaspoons coriander seeds
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon dry chilli peppers
1 teaspoon cardamom seeds

I use a dedicated electric coffee grinder for jobs like this. Simply load it in and let rip until the powder is fine and uniform. You can generally find an electric coffee grinder for a dollar or two in most second hand shops. Do not even think about using it for coffee afterwards.

Seal the mix in a small glass jar and keep it away from the light or in a small tightly corked pottery container. Use inside three months, preferably less.

If you want to learn something important, make up the same recipe from bought pre-ground spice, or ground spice that has been sitting in your cupboard for a while, and taste the difference.

My sole departure from this list was in respect of the chilli. After making a batch of sweet chilli sauce, I was left with a quantity of fresh green chillis in the packet I had brought, so I dried them in our food drier and ground them up once they were crisp. the resultant olive green powder is explosively hot and yet retains a good deal of the "fresh" flavour that bought chilli powder seldom delivers.

Cooking Chickpeas

In the morning, put a cup or so of chickpeas to soak in 4 cups water.
About 2 hours before the meal, drain the chickpeas and cook them for about an hour in 4 - 6 fresh cups water - until soft with just a hint of crispness.
Drain these and reserve. (I usually do about 2-3 times the chickpeas I will need and freeze the remainder so as to short circuit the soaking and cooking on a later ocasion.)
If you forgot to soak the chickpeas, use chana dal instead. Chana is a wild chickpea, usually sold husked and looking like yellow split peas. It can be cooked from dry in about 4- - 50 minutes without soaking and tasts much the same as chickpeas.

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