I probably should let you in a on some information, lest you wonder why I’ve suddenly gotten a tad more verbose these days; I’m participating in National Blog Posting Month, or NaBloPoMo. Every November, bloggers are challenged to post daily to their sites, and I last jumped into this fray in 2008. My NaBloPoMo then had a theme; daily food holidays. It was fun, challenging and a wonderful learning experience as I gained knowledge of new foods and kitchen experiences through that exercise.

This year, I don’t have a theme, but I do have a desire to not bore you to death and I hope I succeed. So there will be photos, some stories, likely a sharing of ideas and things that inspire me and probably recipes, of course. Some will be new and some likely will be resurrected from my Archives. I’ve been writing this blog for 4-1/2 years and my recipe index is pretty huge. There’s a lot of gems in there, including this one for Curried Chickpeas.

Interestingly enough, when I went searching for some inspiration to help me out today, I spotted this photo and then went scanning for the actual recipe on my blog, only to find that I posted it exactly a year ago. Weird. But in a good way. This recipe is super-fast, and incredibly flavorful, with warming spices for the chilly November days ahead.

Curried Chickpeas
From The Los Angeles Times, 10/21/09

1 medium onion, diced
1 t. turmeric
1 t. coriander seed
1 t. cumin seed
1/2 t. cayenne pepper
2 15-oz cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 T. chopped cilantro (more to taste)
1 T. each fresh squeezed lemon juice and zest (lime would work fine, in fact I think it might be better)

With a mortar and pestle, or a spice grinder, crush the coriander and cumin seed into coarse powder.

In a saute pan, heat oil of choice and add onions over medium-high heat. Saute onion until deep golden brown and crispy, about 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the turmeric, coriander, cumin and cayenne. Cook, stirring frequently until aromatic and toasted, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in the chickpeas, cilantro and lemon juice. Cook, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes to allow the flavors to develop. Remove from heat and taste. Season with salt if desired. Allow to cool, transfer to a container and chill prior to serving. Adjust lemon juice and seasoning if you wish.

KATE’S NOTES:
I like the fresh flavors of using whole coriander and cumin seed in recipes. If you don’t keep a mortar and pestle, or spice grinder on hand, use pre-ground spices in the same quantity.