Turmeric The New Cure for Everything? and a Recipe for Chick Pea Curry

Fresh Turmeric which I bought from Amazon.co.uk

Turmeric seems to be big news at the moment, wherever you turn there seems to be somebody telling you that it’s the new superfood. 
I think all this hype about superfoods is totally over the top.  In this morning’s daily paper; if I was to believe everything I read about the health giving properties of food, I would be lunching on Raw garlic Blueberries, Sweet potatoes, Chicken soup, Almonds, Bone broth (what is chicken Soup I ask) Yoghurt, Cauliflower and Manuka Honey (Read in same paper last week that Manuka tests were inconclusive as to its health giving claims)   etc etc

I was in the gastro heaven which is Whole Foods in Cheltenham last weekend and succumbed to buying a couple of knobs of fresh turmeric. Just in case all the claims are true. 
I also bought some on Amazon as I used all the wholefoods turmeric up in one hit.  Amazon have it in a variety of weights and prices, the link below sells 100g at the price shown and free postage

Here are some of the latest health claims:  Just so you know how healthy we are all going to be if we start eating Turmeric en masse:   It is supposed to be a powerful antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, improve brain function and also lower heart disease and perhaps even treat cancer.  Oh and if that isn’t enough I also found a web site saying that it is a new cure for Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis and depression. 

 Nobody is confirming how much of the stuff you're supposed to eat and also how often.  So let's not get too serious about this and think that if we eat turmeric throughout the week we are all going to become miraculously healthy. 
On a more serious note, you can actually buy turmeric capsules.  There have been scientific studies done to prove that turmeric has to be cooked with oils in order to release any health giving properties so there you have it, the latest health low down on Turmeric!

Now onto the food bit!

Fresh turmeric is very similar to ginger in look, other than it is smaller and orange yellow in colour.  It has very little smell and the raw bulb doesn’t really taste of much.  Like its powder counterpart, fresh turmeric stains.  It stains chopping boards, knives, cookware, even my kitchen sinks needed some bleach to get rid of the stains, the dishcloth was a total write-off and my hands look like I have a 50 a day habit. 

Chickpeas are one of my constant favourites in the store cupboard. 
They are cheap, nutritious; contain fibre, versatile, flavourful and crunchy.  They come in a variety of guises, one being chickpea flour or gram flour or besan as it is also known.   I will not be talking about chickpea flour today. 

What I am working with today is the whole chickpea.   These come either dried or in tins.  I never buy chickpeas in tins because I’ve never found their flavours to be representative of anything like dried chickpeas which when soaked for 24 hours in a lot of water and a little bit of bicarbonate of soda become a really nice tasty item to use.  Dried chickpeas are a lot cheaper than tinned chickpeas probably one bag of dried chickpeas will create four tins of bought chickpeas.  See the link above for a suggestion again from amazon.

So with the turmeric and the chick peas ready to go what should I cook?  One of my favourite dishes and one that I use to cook quite regularly on Saint Helena because all ingredients were available although over there it was dried turmeric. 

Actual photo of the finished Chick Pea Curry without garnish

Chickpea Curry

 This curry is incredibly tasty, cheap, easy to make. 
It lasts two to three days in the refrigerator, will freeze easily and can be used to accompany anything from baked salmon to breast of chicken to part of an Indian meal.  The quantity here will produce enough for around 8 starter/side or 4 main portions

Don’t get too hung up on weights of items, just bear in mind that the spices are what make most of the flavour, so if you want spicy, add more.  If you don’t then add less.
Ginger, Turmeric and Garlic can be chopped most efficiently in a mini bowl chopper, Kenwood make them and they are very useful.  I have put the Amazon link to illustrate the chopper I used.

Ingredients
250 grams of dried chickpeas & 1tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
2 teaspoons of whole cumin seeds
2 onions peeled and chopped
Two large cloves of garlic peeled and finely chopped
Large knob of Ginger around 5 to 60 grams finely chopped
50 to 60 g Fresh Turmeric finely chopped or one-and-a-half teaspoons of dried turmeric
Half a teaspoon of Cayenne pepper or other chili powder I used Chipotle which is smoked Jalapeno and delicious
Two tins of chopped tomatoes
2 teaspoons of garam masala, home made is best!
1 teaspoon of amchoor powder or (dried mango powder) or half a lemon or half a lime
2 to 4 teaspoons of salt to taste

THE DAY BEFORE...................Add Bicarbonate of soda to around a litre of water (water should be at least 4 times the volume of the dried chickpeas.  Soak the dried chickpeas overnight. 
Next day cook the chickpeas by bringing a pan of water to the boil and then adding them to it.  Let the water return to the boil and turn the heat down to simmer.  Skim any scum that forms in the pan.  The chick peas should cook within around 30 to 40 minutes.  They will take longer if the soaking time was less than 24 hours or the Chick Peas were old.
 

1. Take a large pan, place on medium high heat and cover the base with vegetable oil or olive oil or Ghee, it really doesn’t matter.
   
2. Add cumin seeds and stir until you can faintly smell them cooking.
   
3. Add the chopped onions. Sweat the onions off until transparent
   
4. Add the chopped garlic, ginger and turmeric, whether fresh or dried.  Keep the heat up medium high and keep the items in the pan cooking and moving about until the water has evaporated from the items and the mixture is frying quite well
   
5. Now add the chili powder or cayenne pepper I would suggest you start with a round about a half a teaspoon.  This curry is one that you taste as you go along and you can fine tune the heat to suit yourself . 
   
6. Add the Garam Masala and around about ½ the salt.  Give everything a good stir and keeping the heat up, let these items cook out for a little while
   
7. Add the tomato then give everything a big stir and taste the sauce before adding anything else.  You should be able to taste the salt and the spices.  If you cannot, add a little bit more of what you fancy. The chickpeas will absorb some of the salt when they go into the pan
   
8. Add the drained chickpeas and give everything another big stir to get all the chickpeas coated.  Then turn the heat down to low and allow everything just to simmer for about a half an hour until the chickpeas start to take on some of the flavours. 
   
9. Taste the finished item and add more salt, chili or garam masala.  Also at this stage add a little bit of the mango powder which will add a little acidity to the dish.  If not serve with lime or lemon wedges at the table. 
   
10. Once you are happy with the flavour, switch the heat off put the lid back on the pan and just leave it for around about 10 minutes to keep cooking while you get your remaining food items ready
    

Today I made this exact curry however I didn’t have any Mango powder but I did use some limes and instead of cayenne pepper I use one fresh jalapeno pepper and also some Chipotle pepper which is a smoked jalapeno from Mexico.  No it’s not Indian food but hey it still tasted fantastic
Garnish the dish with chopped fresh coriander chopped fresh mint and natural yoghurt.
I did not have natural yoghurt today so I just used cottage cheese which added not only the coolness of the yoghurt but it also an element of savouriness and some richness.  In fact it’s something that I will now use with my Currys as well as using natural yoghurt

The photograph is the actual curry that I made today with mint and coriander garnish and the cottage cheese. 
It just goes to show you do not always need absolutely everything in your store cupboard that appears on a recipe.  If you look and choose the most similar item you can still come up with a delicious meal. 

I really recommend this easy chickpea curry it’s something that you will love.  Just watch out for the yellow stains and the healthy feeling from eating all that Turmeric!