A Life (Time) of Cooking

I had some chickpeas in the fridge. I had meant to make something else, all protein laden, and had soaked the chickpeas and cooked them until tender. Then I got busy and forgot what I was going to cook. Here I am, several days later, needing to make something with these wonderful little balls of sunshine.

It is hot again - 40C for the fourth day in a row. It has been a hot summer. A long lazy weekend under the airconditioner. There is no way that I want to cook anything that generates a lot of heat in the kitchen.

It wasn’t hard to choose - I remembered reading of a lovely chickpea and sesame sauce in Krishna’s Cuisine. So back I go again to that scripture of Anglo-Indian cooking, and “gave it a whirl” (Australian slang for “having a go” or “trying it out”).

It is an endlessly malleable recipe - you can add or subtract ingredients, make it thicker or thinner, eat as a dip or pour it over steamed veggies. Use it as a sauce for potatoes, beans, spinach. The uses are endless.

Using chickpeas (garbanzo beans) and sesame seeds, it is an Indian take on Hummus. It takes about 5 minutes to make. Easy. Perfect for a stinking hot Sunday afternoon at home.

Ingredient Notes

If you have not used black mustard seeds before, read about them here.

Recipe Notes

This recipe really is the Neverending Dish, because what you can do with it is limited only by your creativity.

• It can be served warm or cold.
• You can add yoghurt, creme fraiche, buttermilk, mascarpone or sour cream.
• You can replace the almonds with cashews
• Add some coconut shreds and coconut oil for a West Coast of India feel.
• Stir through some finely sliced green onion.
• Add half a dried chilli to the blender or grinder.

Serving Notes

• It can be a dip (leave it as a thick consistency), a spread (a little thinner), a sauce (thin to desired consistency) or salad dressings (thinner).
• Today, I spread it onto buckwheat crispbreads, and, inspired by Gourmet Girl, placed wafer thin slices of cucumber on top, and drizzled a little chilli powder over the cucumbers to give it extra bite.
• You can drizzle over salads, serve as a thick sauce with char grilled eggplant slices.
• Coat steamed potato in the sauce. A tablespoon or two on top of steamed spinach.
• Leave it thicker and put a big dollop in the middle of thick vegetable soup.

Kabli Chana Til Sas
(Chickpea, Almond and Sesame Sauce)

Source : adapted from Lord Krishna’s Cuisine
Cuisine: Anglo-Indian
Prep time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 0 mins
Serves: 4 - 6 people or more, depending how you use it

ingredients
0.25 cup white sesame seeds
1 tspn cumin seeds
0.5 tspn black mustard seeds
0.25 cup chopped almonds or cashews
2 cups cooked chickpeas, drained (canned chickpeas can be used)
3 Tbspns fresh lemon or lime juice
0.25 tspn cayenne pepper or paprika
pinch asafetida powder
1 tspn salt
approx 0.25 cup water, whey or vegetable stock
3 Tblspn sesame oil

method
Combine the sesame seeds, cumin seeds, black mustard seeds in a large heavy frying pan and place over a moderate heat. Slow roast until the sesame seeds darken one or two shades.

Pour the seeds into the food processor. Add the cashew or almonds to the frying pan and dry roast over the heat for 2 or 3 minutes without letting the nuts burn.

Add the nuts to the processor with the seeds. Cover and blend until they are coarsely powdered.

Add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth and creamy, pausing now and then to scrape the ingredients towards the blades with a spatula.

To vary the texture and consistency add more or less liquid, yoghurt, buttermilk etc, either warmed or at room temperature.

Serve warm or at room temperature. Covered, it will keep for a couple of days in the refrigerator.

People are Saying

Herbimania has linked to this post, and has her own version of this spread, which looks delicious! The post is not in English. I am guessing Polish, but am not really sure….???? It is in Polish - Herbi let me know in a comment below. She says:

And the spread, the spread was just heaven in my mouth …

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