Spicy chickpeas and chicken curry

I have cooked this dish many times but was just way too lazy to blog about it. Considering that my backlog is getting longer each day, I better blog about it now since I am in a mood. This was a recipe shared by a friend when she was staying in NY. She has been asking me to give the recipe a try and I did so on one lovely day  =).

Ingredients:

100g dried chickpeas, washed and covered with warm water, soaked overnight  (Just used canned chickpeas, save time)

5 cups water

250g deboned chicken meat, diced

25g ginger, shredded finely

3 tbsp oil

2 stalks curry leaves

1 tsp chopped garlic

1 tomato, chopped

1 green chilli, halved and seeded  (Can also use bird eyes chilies)

1 cup water

½ tsp garam masala  (Omitted)

½ onion, sliced

Spices (combined):

1 tbsp Life Nyonya Kitchen Fried Chilli Paste  (Can use any other chili paste. I usually used Vindaloo or Madras paste)

1 tbsp fish curry powder

¼ tsp turmeric powder

Seasoning:

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp  light soy sauce

Salt and sugar to taste

Method:

1) Drain the chickpeas and cover with boiling water. Cook in a saucepan till they break when pinched with the thumb and finger. Drain.  (Can omit this step if using canned chickpeas)

2) Heat 3 tbsp oil in a wok and fry ginger till crispy, remove and set aside. Put curry leaves, onion and garlic in the remaining oil. Saute until fragrant.  (I omit the ginger these days)

3) Add tomato, combined spices and chicken meat. Fry over a low heat until the oil separates.

4) Put in the cooked chickpeas, green chilli, water and seasoning. Simmer for 15 – 20 minutes over a gentle low heat until liquid has been absorbed. Dish out.  (Don't worry if the liquid is not fully absorbed during cooking because the chickpeas will absorb is when cooled down)

5) Sprinkle with garam masala and add a garnishing of coriander leaves and the crispy ginger shreds.

This is a really a must try recipe. Absolutely delicious!! Also great to eat with roti pharata (roti canai) or naan. The feeling is like eating roti canai with dahl curry. Heaven!!

I once did it with oven chips using the spices (combined) and seasoning and had it with roti pharata. Absolutely fantastic!!