While I am an avid collector of cookery books, I rarely use them for recipes, more for reading or for inspiration. However, I recently bought a copy of the Comptoir Libanais Express cook book and whilst flicking through the pages a recipe caught my attention - one for a chickpea and chocolate dessert. I have to say I was both repulsed and also intrigued by the idea. While I like to think I am pretty open minded as far as food goes (if it's veggie then I'll eat absolutely anything) I have a problem with sweet beans. Some things, as far as my mind goes, are meant to be savoury, and while I am happy to make cookies and halva using chickpea flour, in my mind cooked chickpeas themselves are savoury and the thought of making a pudding with them seemed to be the antithesis of all that is right in the world.
However, I do love a challenge, and was curious so I decided to try and make it. I've adapted the recipe somewhat, the original called for gelatine (I substituted cornflour / cornstarch), and used ground almonds (I've substituted pistachios). I also added some orange blossom water, and rather than a chocolate (or carob) sauce I decided on an orange blossom syrup.
So... what was the end result like? Actually very nice. The texture was a little grainy, though that was more due to me not having a decent blender and doing the best I could with a stick blender, the taste was quite delicious though. I put a couple of the desserts in the freezer, as I think it could work quite well as a dairy free ice cream...
Ingredients
1 400g can of chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
400ml almond milk
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
50 g honey (to make it vegan use agave syrup)
5 tablespoons cornflour
100g pistachios
125g dark chocolate
2 tablespoons orange blossom water
Rose water syrup
Chopped pistachios
Rose petals (optional)
1. Add the chickpeas and almond milk to a pan, bring to the boil then turn off the heat and leave for 15-20 minutesto infuse
2. Pour off around 50ml of the almond milk and add to the cornflour, mixing well until you have a smooth lumpess paste
3. Blend the chickpeas, almond milk and cocoa powder until smooth
4. Pour the mixture back into the pan, add the honey and chocolate. Heat gently until the chocolate has fully melted
5. Stir in the cornflour and almond milk mixture and continue to cook on a low heat for around 5 minutes
6. Turn off the heat and add the ground pistachios and orange blossom water
7. Pour the mixture into ramekins (makes enough for around 6) and leave to cool before refrigerating for a few hours
8. To serve tip out on a plate and decorate with nuts and rose petals. Delicious with a fragrant orange blossom syrup (2 parts sugar to one part water, orange blossom water added to taste)
It's winter and time for comfort food... I could never buy into the 'carbs are the enemy' mentality popular these days as the thought of life devoid of bread, rice and pasta seems to be a very sad existence indeed. When in need of something warm and nourishing I tend to look eastwards and feeling in need of something more substantial for breakfast than porridge I decided on Fattet.
Fattet (or fatteh / fette) is a dish found over the Middle East, its base being stale fried pita or flatbread (the name comes from the Arabic word for crumbs). There are quite a few different variations of fattet, fattet hummus where a layer of steamed chickpeas cover the bread, or fattet makdous where fried aubergine is added to name but two. The resulting delicious mixture is then usually topped with a yoghurt tahini sauce. Inspired by the delicious fattet moussaka (with the Middle Eastern vegetarian moussaka rather than the Greek style) I ate last weekend, I decided to go for that option, combining the aubergine with a spicy tomato sauce. Also, rather than fry the bread and aubergine I baked them in the oven, while maybe not quite as unctious as the fried version, it tasted perfectly acceptable and probably saved quite a few hundred calories. Don't be put off by the daunting list of ingredients, most of them are for the moussaka (which could be omitted if you want to go with the basic but delicious fattet hummus)
Ingredients
3 pita breads
1 can of chickpeas
1 large aubergine
1 red onion (sliced)
3 cloves of garlic (crushed)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 can of tomatoes
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon harissa
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
2 tsp cumin
Olive oil
1 handful pine nuts
3 tablespoons low fat yoghurt
3 tablespoons tahini
Pinch of salt
Squeeze of lemon juice
Hot water (to thin sauce)
Fresh coriander
Fresh parsley
1. Prick the aubergine and bake for around 30 minutes until soft, take out the oven and allow to cool before cutting into large cubes
2. While the aubergine is baking, cut the pita bread into squares (approximately 1 x 1 inch) and spread over a baking tray. Drizzle with a little olive oil (optional) and sprinkle the cumin and caraway seeds over the top and bake for around 10 minutes until golden brown.
3. For the moussaka: Fry the onion and garlic until softened, stir in the ground spices, harissa, vinegar and tomatoes. I also like to add some pureed soaked ancho chillies which give a delicious smokey flavour. Stir and add the cubed cooked aubergine. Turn down the heat and simmer for 30 minutes, at the end of cooking stir in the chopped coriander and parsley
4. Heat the chickpeas
5. For the tahini yoghurt sauce: Mix in a bowl, add salt to taste and a squeeze of lemon juice. Thin the sauce to a pourable consistency with a little boiling water
6. To assemble the fattet: Add some of the bread to the bottom of a bowl, top with a couple of spoonfuls of the aubergine moussaka and some of the chickpeas. Add a bit more bread and repeat. Top with the yoghurt tahini sauce and a sprinkling of pine nuts. Eat!
