Poppadom as gift to Anna the angel.

© of Winslie Gomez

Anna, here’s a few words to help you enjoy your delight.

Pappadoms

May your charm never reach a sell-by date or ever get icy.

May your wit crackle and pop as a crispy poppadom.

Your humour hot, dry and spicy.

May you rise to life’s little challenges like a papad in hot oil.

But hopefully, unlike the very same poppadom,

You will never be brittle nor snap, bubble or boil.

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For those of you not familiar with this South Indian delicacy that accomapnies every meal and usually served with a variety of pickles.

How do you spell ‘poppadom’?
As with many words from foreign languages which have their own alphabets, there is no universally accepted way of transcribing the Tamil name of this food into English. The Concise Oxford Dictionary (1999) lists the word at poppadom, but mentions poppadum, and popadom, as alternatives. The variant spellings which have been listed in Oxford dictionaries include papadam, papaddam, papadom, papadum, papodam, papodum, popadam, popadom, poppadam, poppadom, poppadum, poppodam, puppadum, puppodam, puppodum. However, there is nothing to say that you cannot use the unlisted spellings papodom, popadum, poppodom, poppodum, puppadam, puppadom, and puppodom. Take your pick!

Chickpeas

Written by McGomez, the penny pinching auld fart fae Aberdeen for Shoestring Gourmet

Nutrition Facts:

Per serving of 164 grams = 1 Cup full.

Calories 269

Dietary Fibre 12gms

Sugars 8gms

Fat 4gms

Protein 15gms

Also

Vitamin A & C

Calcium

Iron.

Chickpeas are also called garbanzo beans.

Peas, lentils, and chickpeas are rotation crops to wheat and barley. Planted in alternate years, these rotation crops replenish nitrogen in the soil, reducing or eliminating the need for chemical fertilizers.

The chickpea was originally cultivated on the lands bordering Mesopotamia and the eastern Mediterranean. From there it spread to India and some parts of East Asia.

Chickpeas as well as other legumes are high in fibre.

Buying Tips:

1. Bulk buy dried chickpeas.

2. Tinned, precooked and in salt water.

Dried chickpeas will have to be soaked overnight.

Place in a pan with twice as much water bring to the boil then reduce the heat to simmer for 1 ½ – 2 hours.

Two recipes and a third on a useful link

Chickpea Salad:

As the title suggest this is one of those dishes you can throw anything together, all veg fresh and colourful. The taste and look of the dish is just about endless.

I am looking for contrasting colours, flavour and crunch, here is my favourite.

Ingredients

Red Onion because of the colour and texture, chopped to your preference but not in a blender or you will have a bitter mush.

Red Pepper (bell) Chopped into postage stamp size squares

Frozen peas (microwave with a little water)

Yogurt Plain (Prefer Greek Style)

I (one) Green Chilly seeded and chopped into strands if you like it hot

2 (two) cans chickpeas drained and rinsed to get rid of the salt.

Garnish

Coriander for colour and flavour. Chopped

I spring onion if you are artistic make fans( don’t know how? ask!)

Tabasco (hot sauce if req’d)

Prep:

Large salad bowl.

All the chopped ingredients go into the salad bowl first, followed by the chickpeas then the yogurt.

Fold all the ingredients with a large spoon and be gentle as you can crush the chickpeas (that’s a different dish!)

In the centre add a little Tabasco (if req’d) spread the chopped coriander and spring onion around the side in a circle.

Serve with crusty bread.

Enjoy!

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HUMUS

2 cups or tin of precooked, drained and rinsed chickpeas.

1/3 cup Tahini (To Be bought separately, Useful if you like humus)

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

1 tablespoon fresh garlic chopped fine (optional)

1/2 Lemon squeezed at the end

Crush the chickpeas or blitz it, add Tahini, 2 tablespoons olive oil, (garlic) and lemon juice.

Mix until smooth.

Serve with warm Pitta bread, Tortillas, French stick or Crusty farmhouse loaf. Fingers do the trick too, but only if solo or a very romantic event for two.

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Aubergine and Chick Pea Link