Mediterranean Chickpeas

One of the highlights from my trip to England last week was cooking with my family. My younger sister shared this recipe with me and it was so fun to cook together! After three years of being apart it was such a treat to simply just be together with no agenda. For me, cooking is a mindful experience. I am 100% in the moment. I also find it very creative - I love working with my hands and creating something. This recipe was created by the chef Yotom Ottolenghi. It’s super easy. Simple combine the ingredients together in a heavy bottom pan and cook in the oven for 75 minutes. To make it vegan, use a dairy free yoghurt to garnish. Enjoy!

Ingredients - Serves 4

2 x 400g of canned chickpeas (net weight of 480g)

11 garlic cloves, peeled - 10 left whole and 1 crushed

30g piece of fresh ginger - thinly sliced

300g of cherry tomatoes

1 to 3 red chillies - deseeded, slit open lengthways (exact number depends upon heat of chillies and your taste buds!)

1 tbsp tomato paste

2 tsp cumin seeds, roughly crushed

2 tsp coriander seeds, roughly crushed

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1/2 tsp chili flakes

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp caster sugar

100ml olive oil

Salt

Yoghurt Dressing

8 tbsp mint leaves - finely chopped

8 tbsp cilantro (coriander in the UK) leaves - finely chopped

180g plain, unsweetened Greek Yoghurt

2-3 limes - 1 juiced and the rest cut into wedges to serve

4 pita breads

Creating the Magic!

Preheat the oven to 325F (150 C with fan). Put the chickpeas, whole garlic cloves, ginger, tomatoes, tomato paste, spices, sugar, oil and a teaspoon of salt in a large ovenproof saute pan with a lid (something similar to a Le Creuset/Dutch oven) and stir to combine. Cover, put in the oven for 75 minutes, stirring once halfway, until the aromatics have softened and the tomatoes have broken down.

Meanwhile make the yoghurt dressing. Put the mint, cilantro, yoghurt, lime juice, crushed garlic and a quarter teaspoon of salt in a small bowl.

Serve the chickpeas in the pan with the dressing alongside the lime wedges and some pita breads.

Enjoy! Can be enjoyed as a side dish or as a main dish with some rice.