The Chickpeas : Soak 1/2 a cup overnight, then boil until just tender. Heat a tsp of ghee and add 2 freshly ground tomatoes. Cook on a low heat, stirring continuously, until your tomatoes turn to a thick paste. Add salt, a pinch of red chilli powder and 1/2 tsp chana masala (okay, confession time - I didn not have chana masala, so I put in pao bhaji masala instead!).
Cook for a minute or two to mix. Do not add any water. You will be tempted to do it. Just don't - trust me here! Add the boiled chanas (minus the water they were boiled in) and cook for 5 minutes or so until dry.
The Spinach : Wash and roughly chop 2 cups of spinach leaves. Add 1/2 cup water, one small chopped onion and 2-3 cloves of garlic then cook until the spinach is soft. It takes 2 whistles in the pressure cooker if you are using that. Blend into a puree and return to the pan. Simmer until the spinach, onion, garlic mixture thickens to a soup like consistency.
The Plating : Take a shallow soup plate and flood it with spinach puree. Arrange chickpeas in the center. If you are Grant Achatz, you will make a neat circle with a tweezer. This chef here was too busy trying to eat it to make it any prettier.
Comments
Oh, love the spinach treatment too. I too find greens sometimes are best with minimal spices and not too much cooking.