Monday, August 3, 2015

Chaos, order and chickpeas, a quick recipe

Is there order without chaos;
Purity without pollution;
Peace without war;
Love without hate;
Life without death;
Truth without lie;
Future without past;
Compassion without cruelty;
Vegans without carnivores?

Is the unity of contradictions the basis of completeness?  Are contradictions just the different sides of the same coin, called life?
For all those who take the contradictions of life, the contradictions that keep the universe going, as an excuse for the cruelty of exploiting and killing of other sentient beings: please understand that this view is a philosophical exercise. A thought experiment is not to be acted out in real life. Just as we do not start wars to understand peace, or lie as an excuse to understand the nature of truth, just so we do not perform acts of cruelty to become compassionate.

No suffering or contradictions go into one of my favorite recipes for a quick and healthy chickpea meal:

Ingredients

1 big can of chickpeas (800 gr., drained weight 480 gr.)
½ small can tomato squares (400 gr.)
2 tablespoons of sunflower oil
1 onion, cut into small pieces
2 cloves of garlic, grated or finely cut
1 cm. ginger, grated or finely cut
1 teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon coriander seed, powdered
¼ teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoons chana massala*
Salt to taste
2 table spoons coriander leaves

* If you cannot find chana massala: the ingredients of the mixture are listed below

Method

Drain and rinse the chickpeas
Heat the oil
Fry the cumin seeds for one minute
Add the cut onion, fry until golden, add garlic and ginger, stir and mix well, add the spices, mix well.
Add the tomato cubes and salt, bring to boil and let simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the chickpeas, bring to boil, simmer for 10 minutes, add coriander leaves and simmer for another 3 minutes.

Ready to eat!



* The ingredients of the chana massala mixture are


2 tablespoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon dry pomegranate seeds (anardana)
5-6 red chilies
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
½ tablespoon black peppercorns
10 cloves
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
10 green cardamom
4 black cardamom
½ tablespoon ginger powder
1 tablespoon mango powder (amchur)
2 cinnamon sticks
2 bay leaf
1 star anise
½ tablespoon nutmeg
½ tablespoon rock salt (black salt)

Dry roast all the ingredients. Allow to cool, then grind and store it in an air tight container for future use.


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