Spicy Chickpea Stew Cooked With Drumstick Vegetable

There are many variations of Chickpea being cooked. In this recipe I have made a chickpea stew with Drumstick vegetable (seed pods of Moringa Oleifera) that is being served with rice as one of the main courses. This stew can also be served with chapatis and flat bread.

Please go through the instructions below on how to cook this tasty and spicy chickpea stew with drumstick vegetable

• One cup of dried chickpeas. It weighed about 150 grams
• 3 to 4 drumstick vegetable pods. We harvested more from our Moringa tree in the backyard, So I stored the surplus in the fridge by cutting them in about 6 inch long pieces.
• A lemon sized piece of Tamarind
• One medium sized Onion
• Two Tomatoes
• 4 to 5 Garlic cloves
• A teaspoon of Fenugreek seeds
• A teaspoon of Cumin seeds
• A bunch of Curry leaves
• 2 to 3 teaspoons of Coriander powder
• One teaspoon of Red chilli powder
• One teaspoon of Turmeric powder
• One teaspoon of Cumin seed powder
• 2 Tablespoons of Cooking oil
• Salt to taste

• Soak the dried chickpeas in water overnight. Otherwise it may not cook well and remain raw even after long time of pressure cooking
• The next day drain out the water and rinse the chickpeas few times in clean water
• Transfer the chickpeas to a pressure cooker and add about one cup of water
• Add half a teaspoon of turmeric powder and one teaspoon of salt
• Pressure-cook the chickpeas for about 10 minutes
• Remove from stove and allow the pressure to come to normal
• Once the pressure is normal, open the cooker, drain out water using a strainer and keep the cooked chickpeas aside

• In the mean time you can also make tamarind paste
• Soak the lemon sized tamarind piece for about 10 minutes in half a cup of warm water
• After soaking, press the tamarind with your fingers and extract the juice
• Filter the tamarind paste using a tea filter and keep aside.
• You can discard the remains on the filter

• Cut the drum stick pods into 1-1/2 inch long pieces and keep in water. Do not cut all the way down. Leave a small patch uncut and remove the outer skin from that patch on both sides. This will help in even and faster cooking of drumsticks
• Chop onion and tomatoes into small pieces and keep aside
• Shuck garlic cloves and chop into small pieces

• Place a frying pan on stove and add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil
• When the oil is heated, add curry leaves, Fenugreek seeds and cumin seeds to the pan
• Add chopped onions and garlic to the pan and cook till onions are fried to a golden brown

• Once onions are properly cooked, add chopped tomato pieces and salt to taste. Remember, we have added salt while pressure cooking chickpeas. So take care and add salt accordingly
• Mix everything together and cook till oil oozes out from edges of the ingredients in the pan

• Now add all the spice powders to the pan (Coriander powder, Red chilli powder, Cumin seed powder and remaining Turmeric powder)
• Mix them all together with a ladle. Now you may find ingredients in the pan have formed into a thick paste
• Add the tamarind paste and about 3 cups of water to the pan and mix well
• Cover the pan with a lid and keep over medium flame

• Once the mix in the pan starts boiling, add the cut drumstick vegetables
• Again cover the frying pan with lid and cook over medium flame till drumstick vegetables are properly cooked
• You can check this by pressing a piece of drumstick with fingers. If it feels soft and cooked then it is time to proceed further

• Now add the pressure-cooked chickpeas to the stew in the pan
• Keep over low flame for few minutes till the stew thickens to the required consistency
• Transfer the stew from the frying pan to another vessel.
• Our spicy chickpea stew cooked with Drumstick vegetable is ready

Serve hot with rice, chapatis and flat bread