Picked up a packet of tender, green Asparagus, from the supermarket… and had been thinking of baking flan. But in the end with the crazy weather outside, I thought rather than pamper my own desire to bake flan, which might have only limited takers, might be a better idea to make something the whole family can enjoy. So I made soup with the Asparagus, and for something crispy to go with it – I baked – Mathri. Mathris are Indian-style savoury biscuits which are traditionally deep-fried. Its often had as a tea time snack, and during winters in northern India mathri is a family favourite. Another popular way of eating Mathri is to dunk it in mango pickle, some of the best Mathri I have ever eaten in my life was in Meerut (Uttar Pradesh), made by Rani Amma. Rani Amma was our Dhoban – washer-woman – an extraordinarily beautiful grandmother. Its hard to say how old she was, but she was a study in contrast, her beautiful unlined face with a permanent yet toothless smile. Her sari, softly covering her frame and head, pale floral cotton, the permitted colours of widowhood. Her boys lived with her, and despite her soft visage she lorded over her daughters-in-law with an iron fist. For most of our time in Meerut, it was Rani Amma who bought in our freshly ironed laundry delicately balanced over her head. On request she would prepare her famous mathris, and one huge batch was reserved solely for me to eat when I came home on off days from my college in Delhi.

There are several kinds of mathris, salted plain, to peppery, spicy ones, mathri with fenugreek (methi mathri), but with one thing in common – its texture – uniformly crisp, yet melt in the mouth. Perfect to offset a mild soup.

Ingredients for Asparagus Soup

450 gms tender asparagus
2 cups water
1 cup milk
1 medium sized red onion, chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoon Flour
1 vegetable bouillon cube
salt and pepper to taste
2 teaspoons butter/oil

Method for the Soup

1. Cut an inch and a half off the top of half the asparagus and set aside for garnish. Chop the remaining asparagus into slices.
2. Melt one teaspoon of butter in a large saucepan and gently fry the chopped onions until pink. There’s no need to brown the onions.
3. Add the asparagus and saute over low heat for about a minute.
4. Stir in the flour, and cook for a minute, and add the water and bouillon, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover and let simmer for about 10 minutes, until the asparagus is very tender.
5. Cool lightly and puree in a food processor or blender, until really smooth.
6. Pour back into the saucepan, and add the milk, stir and heat the soup for a couple of minutes.
7. Melt the remaining butter in a pan and saute the asparagus heads set aside earlier, these will soften in 3 to 4 minutes.
8. To serve pour into soup bowls and garnish with sauteed asparagus heads.

These baked mathris are tender and biscuit like in texture, and seriously so easy to make, I think I got this into the oven in 15-minutes, and minus all the fuss of frying. Its my own recipe, based on my CQ (cooking quotient) so if you wish to get the same result use the same instructions as below. Ofcourse you can play around with the flavour ingredients.

Ingredients for Baked Mathri – Indian-style savoury biscuits

1 1/2 cups self rising AP Flour
1 heaped tablespoon grated ginger
1-2 pods of garlic, grated
1 tablespoon peppercorns, crushed lightly
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon carom/ajwain/bishop’s weed
1/2 cup cooking oil (I used sunflower)
1 scant teaspoon salt (or to taste, but first check if your flour already contains salt)
3 tablespoon cold full fat milk

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 C and line a cookie sheet with baking paper.
2. Sieve the flour along with the salt, and place in a large enough sturdy bowl which you can use for kneading the dough. Add the ginger & garlic, pepper, cumin and carom, and mix, using your fingers.
3. Make a well in the center and gradually pour in the oil, in quarters, mixing the flour into the oil. The dough will start with being rough breadcrumbs in texture, to being like moist breadcrumbs – so if you squeeze some dough in your fist, it will hold shape.
4. Sprinkle milk one tablespoon at a time, lightly kneading the dough, the dough should just come together, in a flaky sort of way. Do not be tempted to over-knead.
5. Make egg yolk sized balls, and lay on the cookie sheet. Using a dessert spoon flatten the dough balls lightly. Mathris can be made smaller and flatter also, all depends on your mood that day.
6. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, when lightly brown at the edges and top, keeping an eye on them after the first 15 minutes or so.
7. Once done, remove and cool on a wire rack – the most amazing crisp and flakey mathris await. Store in an airtight container, should last a week, if they do.

Sending the baked Mathri off to this week’s Bake-Off.

Canapé comes from the French word for a couch or an open sofa, and in culinary terms the couch would be a base of bread or pastry over which spreads, toppings and flavoured butters are slapped on. Well that is how it is usually, but I had bookmarked a recipe in one of my mum’s recipe books, it had mangetout/snap peas and cucumber as a base for a topping which contained something aquatic. This recipe is fresh, and cool, and very subtly combines crisp green vegetables with an incredibly light and flavourful filling.

Ingredients for the Mangetout Canapés

15 mangetout
3 tablespoon labneh/hung curd
2 pieces sun dried tomatoes, drained from oil and chopped very finely
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
a pinch of salt (optional)

Method

1. Wash and top and tail the mangetout, and string them if required.
2. Blanch them for 30 seconds in boiling water. Rinse in a bowl of icy cold water, drain, pat dry, and store in the refrigerator.
3. To make the filling, whisk together, labneh, chopped sundried tomatoes, salt and pepper, refrigerate.
4. To assemble, With a sharp, pointed knife, split the mangetout vertically, along its curved outer edge. Pipe the filling into the mangetout.

Both the vegetables and the filling can be fixed several hours in advance, and the canapés can be assembled an hour before serving. I was just reading in the book that the mangetout are regarded as a “greater delicacy than the insignificant pea”. Feeling bad for the insignificant pea, but such is the world of the culinary snobs.

Ingredients for Cucumber Canapés

1 cucumber
1/2 cup labneh/hung curd
2 walnuts, chopped very fine
1 garlic, grated
Juice of half a lemon
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
salt to taste
few fronds of dill

Method

1. Score the cucumber lengthways with a fork and cut them into slices of quarter inch thickness. Mix with lemon juice and set aside. After 15 minutes, drain and refrigerate until needed.
2. For the spread, whisk together, labneh, garlic, salt, pepper, and chopped walnuts, set aside in the refrigerator until needed.
3. To assemble, put a dollop of the spread on each slice of cucumber, top with a small frond of dillweed.

Sending these delicious canapés to February’s Monthly Mingle hosted by Paulchen’s FoodBlog.

Somewhere during the rule of the Mughals in India, Awadhi cusine came into existence in Uttar Pradesh, Northern India. Awadhi cuisine has been shaped by three major influences – central asian, middle eastern, and north indian. The food of Awadh is what’s called Shahi or Nawabi meaning princely – rich not only in taste but also in texture. The dum style of slow cooking that’s so popular today owes its roots to the bawarchis (chefs of the Mughals) of Lucknow. The typical Awadhi platter would include elaborate dishes like kebabs, kormas, biryani, nahari-kulchas, roomali roti, warqi paratha (similar to Kerala parotta), and several thousands more dishes rich in meats and spices, as well as a few vegetarian ones developed by the vegetarian Hindu community that lived in and around Lucknow during the age of the Nawabs. The richness of Awadhi cuisine lay in the use of rich spices and ingredients. Even today you are likely to find, on the streets of Lucknow, kebabs that hark back to the princely days – Kakori Kebab, Galawati Kebabs, Shami Kebabs, Boti Kebabs, Patili-ke-Kebabs, Ghutwa Kebabs, Seekh Kebab… it goes on and on.

Now almost all of the great Lucknowi kebabs I can never eat because they’re made of meat – but a long time ago somewhere I had tasted a memorable vegetarian version of the famous Galouti/Galawati kebab, so called because of a toothless old nawab. Now these Nawabs of yore were an indulgent lot who never let things like age or lack of teeth come in the way of their decadent eating ways. So a clever Bawarchi of the toothless ruler decided to grind the meat over 30 times, and put over one hundred aromatic spices in it, to ensure further long life and happy digestion for the ageing royalty. The kebab was then cooked over a low charcoal flame – so that it not only tasted good but had an aroma that was typical of the kebab.

In my case, I have made redundant two annoying steps – done away with the meat and all that grinding, and avoided the charcoal and all that mess! The resulting patty is delicious, great in texture and the use of mace, a very important ingredient in this kebab, makes for an aroma that you don’t usually find in vegetarian kebabs.

So here’s my (melt-in-the-mouth) Galouti Kebab made with yam (zamikand/suran) and plantain (unripe banana)…

Ingredients
2 cups cooked yam (suran/zamikand/chena), mashed
1 cup cooked plantain, peeled and mashed
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
1/2 teaspoon mace, powdered
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
1 teaspoon crushed pepper
4 tablespoon besan, lightly roasted
2 tablespoons fresh coriander, chopped
1 tablespoon ghee
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Method
1. In a large bowl mix together mashed yam and plaintain, along with the rest of the ingredients.
2. Divide the dough into golf ball sized portions.
3. Grease your palms with ghee and roll into balls, and lightly press to get a patty shape.
4. Heat oil in a skillet and shallow fry the Kebabs till golden brown on both sides.
5. Serve with roomali roti and sirke waala pyaaz (onion pickle).

serve with roomali roti and sirke waala pyaaz

Returning after a long summer break makes me feel like a stranger in my own home. Even the pots and pans in the kitchen don’t look particularly friendly… and it usually takes me a full week to fall into a familiar monotony. I was craving for some fries, perfectly feel good food as far as I am concerned, so made this version of potato wedges and a delicious tomato dip to go with it. Purrrfect…

for the wedges:
4 medium sized potatoes, washed & scrubbed
a large pot of water
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 teaspoons coriander powder
1 teaspoon chilly powder/paprika
1 teaspoon garlic paste
salt to taste

for the dip:
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 large tomatoes, finely chopped
2 green chillies, chopped
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
salt to taste

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200 degree C.
2. Cut the potatoes into 6 wedges.
3. Place the potatoes in the pot of water, bring to a boil and then simmer until the potatoes look just cooked. Drain well, and pat dry.
4. Mix the oil, garlic, salt, garam masala, coriander powder and paprika in a roasting tray. Add the potatoes and coat thoroughly.
5. Pop it into the oven and roast for 20 minutes, turning sides after the first 10 minutes.
6. For the dip, heat oil in a saucepan, saute the onion and garlic, add the tomatoes and cook until soft.
7. Stir in the chilly, vinegar, salt and sugar. Cook for another 5 minutes on low flame until the mixture looks reduced. Serve warm with the potato wedges.

]]> http://www.eatwritethink.com/2010/09/spicy-potato-wedges-with-tangy-tomato-dip/feed/ 5 http://www.eatwritethink.com/2010/05/tofu-tikka/ http://www.eatwritethink.com/2010/05/tofu-tikka/#comments Wed, 19 May 2010 06:46:41 +0000 Rajani http://www.eatwritethink.com/?p=905 [continue reading → ]]]>

I am gradually clearing up my recipes from my old blog a vegetarian in the middle east and shifting them here. The idea is to file all my recipes in one place, I often repeat my recipes at home and find myself opening my blog to check on the ingredients. With two blogs and recipes scattered all over its been very confusing. So I am reposting some old recipes. Earlier I was pre-dating them while reposting, like the Vegan Chocolate Avocado cake (I think its one of the most popular recipes from my collection), but now I think these old posts need new energy so I will maintain the current date and time, I will be also using the same photographs unless I have better ones that I have taken more recently Here’s Tofu Tikka.

Tofu Tikka is really simple to make and infact you can assemble it a couple of hours in advance and regrigerate it, in any case it requires a minimum of 30 minutes of marination. First thing you need is a block of extra firm tofu. Rub a pinch of salt on the tofu and leave it on an incline near the kitchen sink, so that water in the tofu drains out.

Meanwhile get hold of the following ingredients for the marinade
Chilly pdr – 1 tsp
Cumin pdr – 1/2 tsp
Coriander pdr – 2 tsp
Thick yoghurt – 3 Tbsp
Ground Pepper – 1/2 tsp
Fennel powder – 1/2 tsp (optional)
Turmeric – 1 pinch
Minced ginger – 1 tsp
Minced garlic – 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Other vegetables for the grill:
Capsicum/Bell Pepper – 1
Onion – 1

Method
1. Pick up the resting tofu block and press it together between your palms to drain out any water left in it. Cut into thick cubes.

2. Mix the ingredients for the marinade together are apply on the tofu cubes, put away any remaining marinade. The the tofu sit for atleast 30 minutes, or put it in the refrigerator for later use.

3. When you’re ready for the grill, cube the capsicum and the onion. Separate the onion layers. Apply the leftover marinade on both.

4. Arrange the pepper, onion & tofu cubes on a skewer – alternating between them. I made bite sized tikkas by skewering them onto toothpicks. Smear a little oil on the tikkas.

5. Grill on both sides till brownish spots appear on the veggies.

Serve piping hot with yoghurt and mint sauce

Check out the recipe for Yoghurt and Mint Sauce on my Vegetarian BBQ post.

copyright 2010 eat.write.think

These days I am living the wonderful life, each day I wake up to delicious mornings, infused with the rich smells and sounds of my homeland. I am in India, and boy! am I happy!! I have just been busy unwinding and also taking care of home – my mum hasn’t been too well – so I am not blogging about any authentic Kerala dishes, but something from my drafts folder. I baked these cashew tarts with zucchini and eggplant filling a few days prior to my trip, very nice and easy to put together as well.

makes 4

Ingredients
for the crust:
1 1/2 cup AP flour/maida
3/4 cup cashew, roasted and crushed coarsely
1/4 cup oil/butter/ghee
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup icy water for making the dough

for the filling:
2 cups zucchini & eggplant, cubed
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon chilly powder (optional)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup tomato puree
salt to taste

Method
1. Mix all the ingredients for the filling and roast in a preheated oven at 200 degree C for 20 to 25 minutes, keep checking and at some point in the middle make sure to mix all the veggies up to ensure even roasting.

2. In a large bowl rub the flour with the salt and oil/ghee/butter till it looks like breadcrumbs. Then drop in the cumin and crushed cashew. Lightly mix and then sprinkle the water and knead into a tight dough. Don’t put all the water at one go, remember to sprinkle and knead.  Keep aside for 15 minutes.

3. Divide the dough into four sections, roll into balls, sprinkle the work surface lightly with flour and using a rolling pin flatten the balls into thick disks.

4. Grease a muffin tray lightly and place each of the 4 disks in the cases, you can fill the empty muffin cases with a little water. Put a spoonful of filling in each tart and lightly pinch the sides.

5. Bake in the center of the oven for about 40 minutes at 200 degree C, or until the crust is browned.

6. Enjoy it warm or cold, just as is, or with hot sauce.

I used olive oil for the dough and found the crust so wonderful, crispy and moderately flakey because of the cashew, I am sure if you use butter or shortening it will yield an even flakier shell. But I guess that’s an individual choice. I am already thinking of other fillings like potatoes and peas; spicey pumpkin, even paneer.

copyright 2010 eat.write.think

copyright 2010 eat.write.think

I recently watched this documentary called Food, Inc. by the American filmmaker Robert Kenner. Over the last couple of years, just when US backed MNCs have been making incursions into the third world countries with ‘solutions’ to the problem of food shortage, Americans have woken up to the fact that indeed food and health are co-related. I liked the film because it was an eye opener for me to know more about the american food production industry. The film has been edited well, very tight and to the point with some great graphics, so actually its not your boring propagandist documentary. Food, Inc. starts with the meat production industry and ofcourse I felt very sanctimonious sitting there watching it with my meat eating partner. The next segment was related to grains and vegetables, the american agriculture relies heavily on corn and soy and it was really interesting to see how products of almost all nomenclature uses some form of either soy or corn extracts. Ofcourse the industry would want that.

Now I like soya and I like corn, but to have it shoved down my throat without a choice, well that makes me uncomfortable. Ofcourse like all films of this nature, big and small, generate some sort of controversy, so Food, Inc, did too. Particularly for its portrayal of Monsanto the agro giant, which is perennially in the news anyway. Just for your information in India Monsato works with Mahyco and markets its BT cotton seeds under different names. Incursions by Monsanto and others into the Indian agro business is said to be one of the many reasons for farmer’s suicides in India.

So my humble corn on the cob waits insidiously, I know not what’s in it, but I will survive another day of food that’s not labelled. I do wonder why organic food is labelled and not the other way round. Shouldn’t it really be the other way round? This recipe is from Cynthia’s Guyanese-style corn-on-the-cob.

Really simple to put together, you need a couple of young corn, if its too large just halve them.

half a can of coconut milk

crushed peppercorn and a little salt

1 cup water

Method

Boil the whole lot in a stock pot, and then simmer till the juices are almost fully absorbed by the corn. I topped it with some vegan olive butter spread. And once you are done with the corn kernels you can suck the cob till its dry! Yum!

copyright 2010 eat.write.think

The latest on BT: India delays BT Brinjal!

Even though it feels vain I really might like to grow old like Dev Anand the evergreen heart-throb of atleast a couple of Hindi movie going generations. Yes he’s gazillion years old, and someone really ought to tell Dev saab that dyeing his hair black (or is that a black wig) does nothing to take away the creases he has collected over the years. But I also think he doesn’t really care for what people make of him – he’s out there doing his thing. Which was entertaining the masses till a couple of decades ago and now I guess the masses entertain him or else what must he be thinking making all those stupendously surreal movies that he has been making in the recent past? But really the man has energy and yes I’d love to have some of that serious joy for life when I get as old as him. Inshallah!

Maybe these energy bars could spell an end to the energy crisis that hits mums of one year olds. It’ll be nice to be remembered as the lady who’s got all the answers, but sadly though I have ‘adapted’ it now, these energy bars aren’t really my own creation. Kristin of Kitchen Sink calls these Granola Bars, mine don’t have any granola only loads of fruits, nuts & orange zest!

Ingredients:
Almonds – 1 cup
Chopped Walnuts – 1 cup
Sesame seeds –1/4 cup
Chopped pitted dried Plums – 1 cup
Dried mixed berries – 1/2 cup
Chopped dried apples – 1/2 cup
Golden Raisins – 1 cup
Bran flakes/corn cereal – 3 cups
Cinnamon powder – 1 tsp (optional)
Orange zest – 2 tsp
Vanilla essence – 1 tsp

Butter – 1/4 cup
Firmly packed soft brown sugar – 1/4 cup
Corn Syrup – 1/4 cup
Honey – 1/4 cup

A rectangular approx. 9 inch dish lined with aluminium foil. The foil should be spilling out of the dish.

Method:
1. Dry roast, separately, the walnuts, almonds and sesame seeds.

2. Combine all the ingredients except the last four (butter, sugar, honey and syrup) and pulse it in the blender. It’ll still be coarse and some almonds will be whole, that’s how it is meant to be.

3. Heat a heavy bottomed pan on medium burner and melt the butter, drop in the brown sugar and stir nicely till it melts.

4. Next add the corn syrup and honey or again you can entirely use only honey and let it come to a uniform boil.

5. Now lower the flame and add the fruit and nuts mixture stirring till it coats evenly.

6. Now transfer to the dish lined with foil, spread evenly and press down firmly with the bottom of your measuring cup.

7. Leave to cool completely, infact once its half cool put the dish in your refrigerator and don’t look at it until after a couple of hours.

8. Take the dish out and lift out the mass with the foil handles and lay upside down on a cutting tray.

9. Remove the foil carefully and cut the fruit and nuts piece into bars of desired size.

I cling wrapped the bars and they are so good on the go that they are off to WTSIM… the summer edition – being hosted by thepassionatecook.

And my entry for Bee & Jai‘s Click event is also off from this post. The theme this month is Citrus and the last date for entries is 30th of August!!

Now only a rare person will not yell potatoes! when you say ‘comfort food’! well the same goes for me as well… but while potatoes continue to dominate the favoured list in the rest of the world, in the emirates that special place is reserved for chickpeas and eggplants! In India we have tikkis, bhajjis, aloo poori, tandoori potatoes, jhal chips… so many lip smacking potato creations. This particular recipe I found in a Sanjeev Kapoor cookbook, I like it because of its simplicity and adaptability. You can make all kinds of different stuffings with this tikki. I avoided deep frying it, as is usually the case with croquettes which are dipped in an egg bath, rolled in breadcrumbs and deep fried, my version is rolled in sesame seeds and shallow fried in olive oil. Any which way its a great tasting dish, that’s guaranteed to get you many complements! They are so quick to make, and you can also assemble them in advance. So here it is, Potato Croquettes/Tikkis (with peas, coconut & coriander stuffing).

Ingredients
Boiled & mashed Potatoes – 3 Large
Boiled & mashed Peas – 1 cup
Cornflour/Cornstarch – 2 Tbsp
Chopped coriander – 1 cup
Chopped Green Chillies – 4, 5 (adjust according to taste)
Grated Coconut – 1/2 cup
Cumin – 1 tsp
Asafoetida – a little (optional)
Juice of 1 small lemon
Sesame seeds – a little (optional)
Olive Oil – a little
Salt to Taste
A little water in a bowl

Method
1. Mix the cornflour and a bit of salt into the mashed potatoes and keep aside.
2. Heat a tsp of oil in a pan and splutter the cumin, and follow up by with a little asafoetida, mashed peas, grated coconut, and chopped coriander. Mix well and cook on medium heat for about a couple of minutes. The mixture should look dry.

3. Now add lemon juice and salt to the above, mix well and keep aside.
4. Wet your palms with a little water, take a portion of mashed potatoes and make a ball. (Just remember that mixing in cornflour to the potato makes them mushy so wetting your palm with water is important.)

5. Stuff the centre with a little green peas mixture, roll well and pat them into thick diskettes. Keep aside.

6. Once all the patties are ready you can refrigerate the lot and fry just before you’re ready to serve.
7. Before frying, roll them in a little bit of sesame seeds – for that extra flavour and crunch.

8. Shallow fry in Olive oil.

Serve with tomato sauce, or any chutney of your choice – as a starter, snack or accompaniment to your main course. Because I didn’t use any green chilly in my mixture – I served the croquettes with a dash of Tabasco sauce. And for my daughter NT, I mixed up all of the ingredients together and made little tikkis. Yes! she loved it.

]]> http://www.eatwritethink.com/2008/06/potato-croquettes-with-peas-coriander-coconut-stuffing/feed/ 1 http://www.eatwritethink.com/2008/06/fatteh-with-yoghurt-and-pine-nuts/ http://www.eatwritethink.com/2008/06/fatteh-with-yoghurt-and-pine-nuts/#comments Wed, 18 Jun 2008 08:17:00 +0000 Rajani http://www.eatwritethink.com/2008/06/fatteh-with-yoghurt-and-pine-nuts/ [continue reading → ]]]> Today’s recipe is a dish called Fattéh (with yoghurt and pine nuts). At the very outset let me tell you dining out in UAE’s many Arabic/Lebanese joints is not a very bright prospect for vegetarians. First of all the very idea of being a vegetarian is baulked upon! However having said that, let me also add, that vegetarians also get to eat (according to me) the tastiest part of Arabic cuisine – the salads and starters.

No Arabic meal is complete without lavish portions of greens. The non vegetarians so drooly over their approaching kababs and meat platters often forget about these yummy bunches of flavour. The greens along with khubus and a drizzle of olive oil makes for a great, fresh nibble.

Other than that some of my favorites are Manakish (a bread with cheese stuffing), Saj (an open bread with different toppings), Fattéh with yoghurt and pine, hummus, babaganoush, lentil soup (I so love lentil soup with a dash of lemon juice), Fattoush (a crispy salad), labneh and zaatar, yummy stuffed Fatayer, sticky rice, there are loads more.

fattéh with yoghurt and pine nuts

Ingredients:
Thick Yoghurt – 1 1/2 cup
Cooked chickpeas (kabuli chana) – 1 cup
Cumin pdr – 1 tsp
Pine nuts – a handful
Salt to taste
Thin Arabic bread (Khubus) – 1
Olive Oil – For garnish
Chilly pdr – for garnish

Method:
1. Kabuli chana or chickpeas needs to be soaked for 8 hours or more and cooked till soft but not mushy. Drain and keep aside – don’t chuck the water yet.

2. Chop up the arabic bread – I guess you can try using pita bread /or plain kulchas as well.

3. Heat an open pan smeared with a spoonful of olive oil and toast the chopped up bread to a crisp. Keep aside.

4. In the same pan, toast the pine nuts and keep aside.

5. Beat the yoghurt well with salt and cumin pdr. If too thick add some of the water that you cooked the chickpeas in. And finally add the chickpeas, mix well and also keep aside.

6. Now the assembly – if you’ve got all the ingredients ready you should assemble just before you are ready to eat.

7. In a bowl drop in the crispy bread, followed by the chickpeas yoghurt mix.

8. Garnish with a sprinkle of chilly pdr, pine nuts and a drizzle of olive oil.

Its quick, simple and very often a whole meal (for me atleast)!

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