Mmmmm….Chapatis and Curry

The weather finally cooled off this week and cooking has become fun again. So last night I reached back to my memories of a dish I last made in highschool home ec., read through a few recipes on the internet, then threw together my own version of curried chickpeas with chicken and chapatis.

I found it worked well to make the chapati dough first, then make the curry and leave it simmering while I cooked the chapatis.

Chapatis (Indian flatbread)

2 cups flour (white, whole or a mix)
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil (ghee would be really good too, I imagine)
3/4 hot water or as needed

Stir together the flour and salt, mix in the olive oil and add water, a little at a time, to form a dough that is smooth and elastic but not sticky. Transfer to lightly floured surface and knead. You want to knead it to a silky smooth softness to make it the final product tender and chewy. Divide into 10-12 balls (ping pong ball size) and let rest for an hour.

When you are ready to cook the chapatis, heat a griddle or well-seasoned pan until very hot. Roll each ball of dough out until thin like a tortilla or crepe. Cook for about a minute, until you see small bubbles in the dough, then flip and cook the other side, pressing lightly around the edges with a folded dish towel to encourage bubbles to form. Keep wrapped in clean dish towels until ready to serve.

If you really want to have fun with the chapatis, after lightly cooking the sides as above, hold the chapati with some tongs over a gas flame until the air bubbles inside make the chapati puff up like a balloon. You can also get the same effect by putting a chapati directly on the oven rack with the oven quite hot – but you have to watch closely because the chapati should come out as soon as it puffs so you don’t burn it! This gives you chapatis with a ‘pocket’ like pitas.

Curried Chicken and Chickpeas

Chicken (however much you have on hand)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cups red onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed and finely chopped.
1/2 tsp each paprika, ginger, black pepper, and turmeric (and cayenne, if you like more heat).
1 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth or stock
1 can chickpeas
1 can peas (I used about half a can)
1 diced tomato (I used half a can diced tomatos and chilies, which is why I skipped the cayenne earlier).
1 tbsp parsley.

I started with some cooked chicken breast I had in the fridge, but it would work fine with raw. Cut into bite size pieces and saute in a pan with a tablespoon olive oil, 2 cups chopped onion, and spices until chicken is browned and onion is translucent.

Sprinkle on flour and stir, scraping the pan. Add chicken broth. Turn down heat and simmer until thickened. (This is a good time to cook the chapatis).

Rinse and drain chickpeas and peas, add, along with tomato and parsley. Heat through.

Serve with warm chapatis.

Both the boys loved the chapatis and tolerated the curry. I am looking forward to having the leftovers for lunch, and thinking I need to make chickpeas a pantry staple.