Charlotte-area chef Santhoshi Radhakrishnan shares her chickpea curry recipe
During non-pandemic times, Santhoshi Radhakrishnan of Santhoshi’s Kitchen offers cooking classes, makes a savory tomato chutney sold in 16 states and sells Indian meal kits delivered right to your door or available for pickup at the South End Market at Atherton.
While the Fort Mill chef has temporarily stopped production of the kits because of COVID-19, you can follow her recipe to recreate her quick and easy chickpea curry for yourself at home. She created the vegan dish using pantry staples since finding certain groceries can be hit or miss these days.
“This is a simpler version of channa masala (a traditional Indian chickpea dish) The channa masala is my family’s favorite vegan dish,” Radhakrishnan said. “My son loves meat, but when I make channa masala, he never complains and eats it happily.”
“Usually for my cooking class, I use the chili powder from the Indian grocery store. For this recipe, I used the chili powder from Harris Teeter, so that it will be easier for people to purchase,” she added.
Chickpea curry
Ingredients
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup diced tomatoes
2 tbs. crushed garlic or 1 tbs. garlic powder
2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
3 tbs. oil
One 16 oz. can chickpeas (You can also substitute canned black beans, pinto beans or red kidney beans.)
Method of preparation
Place a wide pan on the stove and switch on the heat. Heat the pan for 1 minute, then add 3 tbs. oil into the pan. Heat the oil for 1 minute and then add 1 cup chopped onion, 1 cup diced tomatoes, 2 tbs. crushed garlic, 2 tsp. chili powder and 1 tsp. salt. Cook the contents on medium heat for 3 minutes. Stir occasionally to avoid burning. After 3 minutes, add 1 cup water and cook the contents in medium heat for 5 minutes. Stir occasionally to avoid burning.
Open the chickpeas can and drain the liquid. Add the chickpeas into the pan and mix the contents well. Add one more cup of water and cook the contents in medium heat for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, switch off the heat and transfer the chickpea curry into a serving dish.
This story was originally published April 30, 2020 at 1:53 PM.