Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Chicken and Chickpea Masala

Hello everyone,

I hope this day finds you and your loved ones and friends doing well wherever you may be in the world.

It has been awhile since I shared a recipe so I'm posting a "new to me" recipe that I made in the pressure cooker. I didn't think to take photos until after almost everything was eaten! So this photos isn't the best presentation you will get.

I found this recipe on the website Serious Eats here. If you go there you will find a much nicer presentation of the dish and the full recipe. I am also copying the recipe here for your easy reference.

As always I made some modifications to the recipe. I didn't have coriander (even though I'm sure I purchased some earlier for such a time as this, I cannot find it). I also didn't have spinach so I substituted rainbow Swiss chard. Last ingredient I was missing was cilantro. It didn't harm my dish but if you like cilantro I think it adds a nice, fresh flavour.

Another modification is I used dried chickpeas. I cooked them for about 15 minutes in the pressure cooker as I didn't want them over done in the dish. That was a mistake for the dish had to be cooked for an extra 30 minutes or so just to get the chick peas soft enough.



Review:  This dish is quite good and very filling. It has healthy ingredients like chick peas, swiss chard and various spices. I try to eat chick peas whenever I can as a source of protein, fibre, vitamin B-6, iron and magnesium.

This dish is also a bit rich due to the whipping cream which is used as a thickening agent. I ate this chicken and chickpea masala over top of plain boiled potatoes.  It helped to cut the "richness".  You could also use rice, cous cous or yams.  I will definitely make this dish again but next time I will cook the chickpeas well done or used canned as called for in the recipe. On a final note, I noticed that the dish as pictured above looks like it is swimming in grease. That is probably the overhead lighting.  The dish wasn't greasy looking when I took the lid off the pot or when I spooned it into my dish.


Easy Pressure Cooker Chicken and Chickpea Masala

About This Recipe

Yield:Serves 4
Active time:10 minutes
Total time:40 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 medium onion, finely diced (about 1 cup)
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced (about 4 teaspoons)
  • 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (more or less to taste)
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 (15 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 pound fresh spinach leaves, trimmed
  • 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup fresh juice from 2 to 3 lemons
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
  • 3 pounds chicken drumsticks and thighs (4 to 6 of each)
  • Kosher salt

Procedures

  1. Heat butter in a pressure cooker over medium-high heat ("sear" setting on an electric pressure cooker) until foaming subsides. Add onions, garlic, and ginger. Cook, stirring frequently, until pale brown, about 5 minutes. Add cumin, paprika, coriander, turmeric, cayenne pepper, and black pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Add crushed tomatoes and spinach. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until spinach is wilted, about 2 minutes.

  2. Add drained chickpeas, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, half of cilantro, and chicken pieces. Stir to combine. Seal pressure cooker and heat to high pressure. Once high pressure is reached, cook for 15 minutes.

  3. Allow to cool, release pressure, remove lid, add heavy cream and simmer, stirring frequently, until sauce is thickened. Stir in remaining lemon juice and season to taste with salt. Serve immediately, garnished with remaining cilantro leaves.

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