Vegan Curry Chickpea Chilli

posted by Susan Davis <sue@secant.com>

Ladybug House Swoon-Inducing Vegan Curry Chickpea Chili
(recipe by Cam)

• 2 tbsp oregeno
• 2 tbsp oil (olive/peanut/whatever)
• 2 onions diced small (I use red ones)
• 2 large red bell peppers, diced small
• 5 cloves garlic, minced (or a 6 oz preminced jar)
• 3 14 oz cans of black beans, drained
• 3 14 oz cans chick peas, drained
• 1 28+ oz can DICED tomatoes
• 1 14 (or 28) oz can CRUSHED tomatoes
• Taste of Thai Panang Curry Base to taste (or red curry base)
• 1 bunch cilantro (Fresh is best, though dried is OK...)

add oil, oregeno, onions, garlic and peppers together in large pot and simmer over med heat for a few minutes or until onions tender (or as tender as you like 'em).

then add other ingredients in no particular order: beans, chick peas, tomatoes, cilantro.

Mix all this together, and add curry paste. The recipe calls for 3 tbsps, but [Cammy] usually add[s] bit by bit until it's hot enough for [hir]. Ifn you make it for yourself, you may wish to use more. [I use the whole pouch! -- SD] The leftover paste can be easily frozen for next time.

Stir ingredients together, simmer on stove 15 or so minutes until warm-- as it's vegan, there's nothing to kill (like bacterea) and the cooking serves only to make it warm.

Note: rehydrated chick peas (bought dry @ the co-op, soaked in water overnite and then boiled for at LEAST 45 minutes or longer-- epends on how hard you like 'em) are best, but requires more prep time and planning than just buying the canned ones. Half the time you've eaten my chili it's been with canned chick peas. [And all the time that sie makes it, it's yummy! -- SD]

The chili will be a bit watery when it's really fresh. If it sits overnite in the fridge, it'll stiffen up a bit as the chicpeas and beans will absorb some of the water from the tomatoes and peppers. Either way, it's great, but if you don't eat it all @ one sitting or make it for later, it'll be a bit more hearty the 2nd day than when it was freshest.

[I've been making it with a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes, which results in a more chili-like consistency; the way Cammy makes it, it can be eaten with a fork. Using the entire pouch of curry base, and adding four diced habanero peppers, makes the pot just exactly the right spiciness for me, but no one else I serve it to will eat it that hot. Dave's Insanity Sauce is also good for jazzing up a wimpier batch of the stuff.]

-- Sue --
(if I don't break out in a cold sweat, it wasn't hot enough....)