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

Step 1: Ingredients

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

Step 2: Soak and Pressure-cook Chickpeas

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

Step 3: Make Tamarind Paste

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

Step 4: Prepare Ingredients

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

Step 5: Preparation Step 1

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

Step 6: Preparation Step 2

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

Step 7: Preparation Step 3

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

Step 8: Preparation Step 4

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

Step 9: Preparation Step 5

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

Introduction: Spicy Chickpea Stew Cooked With Drumstick Vegetable