Need some recipes for dinner dishes that you can make right from the pantry? There are nights when I sure do!
Here is a cookbook for you to consider. It is Yotam Ottolenghi’s new cookbook, Shelf Love. The premise of the book is just that—recipes you can mostly make for an impromptu meal right off the pantry shelf.
These are not boring recipes, either. No boxed macaroni and cheese or tuna casserole here. This book is full of truly interesting recipes like this one for Confit Tandoori Chickpeas. You can put it together in about half an hour and have it on the table after about an hour and fifteen minutes of baking. Combine the dish with some pillowy pita bread (or naan) and you will have quite a meal. The minty yogurty sauce that accompanies this dish is fantastic. You’ll certainly want to use it with other dishes.
And did I mention that Confit Tandoori Chickpeas has eleven (11!) cloves of garlic? You can ward off a whole neighborhood of werewolves with eleven cloves of garlic!
Confit Tandoori Chickpeas
Ingredients
- 2 15-ounce cans of chickpeas (drained)
- 11 garlic cloves (peeled--10 whole, 1 minced)
- 1 oz. fresh ginger (peeled and julenned)
- 14 ounces cherry tomatoes
- 3 small red chiles (I used Thai and they were hot. The original recipe called for small Fresno chiles)
- 1 T. tomato paste
- 2 t. cumin seeds (roughly crushed)
- 2 t. coriander seeds (roughly crushed)
- 1/2 t. ground turmeric
- 1/2 t. red chile flakes
- 2 t. Kashmiri chile powder
- 1 t. sugar
- 3/4 C. plus 2 T. extra virgin olive oil
- 2/3 C. Greek yogurt
- 3/4 C. mint leaves (chopped)
- 1 1/2 C. cilantro (roughly chopped)
- 2-3 limes (juiced)
- Salt
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Step 2 Combine chickpeas, whole garlic cloves, julenned ginger, tomatoes, chiles, tomato paste, spices, sugar, oil and 1 t. salt in a large Dutch oven.Stir and bake (covered) for 75 minutes. Stir again half way through the bake.
- Step 3 Prepare the sauce by combining yogurt, mint, cilantro, lime juice and 1/2 t. salt in the bowl of a food professor. Process until the yogurt is smooth and the herbs are finely chopped.
- Step 4 When the chickpea mixture is finished baking, remove rom oven and serve with a generous dollop of the yogurt sauce. Serve warmed pita bread or naan with the chickpeas.
