Curried Chickpeas Over Minted Basmati Rice

Last week I posed a question on the facebook page:

What’s most important to you in a meal, other than tasting good — that it be 1) easy, 2) frugal, 3) healthy, or 4) easily modified?

I had a variety of responses, but healthy and frugal seemed to take the lead, with easy to prepare and easily modified still ranking in importance.  This recipe covers all four bases!

If you want to increase the health benefits and get more fiber, you can use brown rice rather than the basmati rice shown here.  Since this is an Indian-inspired dish, I think that the taste of basmati rice works best with the flavors of the curried chickpeas.  And, if you have ravenous meat eaters in your home, you can easily add cubed, cooked chicken into the sauce for a dish that sure to please everyone.

I’ve been trying to order my chickpeas (or garbanzo beans) in bulk from Azure Standard, but they’ve been out of stock for the past few months, so I’m planning to place an order for them through Vitacost instead.  I’ve mentioned it before — if you refer friends to Vitacost, you can earn $10 in credit for every friend that makes a purchase from them.  It’s a great way to build up your pantry frugally by getting the items you need for free!  I’ve ordered various items from them several times and have been very pleased.  *Pssst… by shopping there through this link, you can get $10 off your first order with them right now.*

Curried Chickpeas Over Minted Basmati Rice

What you’ll need for the rice:

• 1/2 cinnamon stick (about 2-3 inches)
• 5 small cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 4 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups uncooked basmati rice
• 3 cups water
• 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, finely chopped

What you’ll need for the curried chickpeas:

• 1 medium sweet onion, chopped
• 1/2 cinnamon stick
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 generous tablespoon of curry (powder, not paste)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger root, minced
• 2 cans of chickpeas or garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained, or 3 1/2 cups of cooked beans if you buy in bulk
• 2 cups water
• 1 small can of tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped

For rice: In a large saucepan, over medium heat, saute the cinnamon, cloves, and cumin in the oil for about two minutes.  Remove the cinnamon stick and the cloves and discard (alternately, you can tie them up in a mesh teabag or something similar and let them simmer with the rice; you just don’t want the cinnamon falling apart into the rice as it cooks).  Add the rice and stir to coat.  Add water and mint.  Bring to a boil, then lower heat, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes or until done.

For curry: In a large skillet or pot, saute onion and cinnamon stick in oil until onion is tender.  Add curry, garlic, and ginger; cook for one minute.  Discard cinnamon stick.  Add beans, water, tomato sauce, lemon juice, and salt, then bring to a simmer.  Cook for 5 or 6 minutes until slightly thickened.  Stir in cilantro.

Serve curry over fluffed rice and enjoy!