Kishmish Kala Chana (Black Chickpeas with Raisins)

This is another curry from my backlog of long overdue write-ups. We made this... several years ago now. I just never quite got around to writing it up. It was decent. I think I'm just too used to yellow chickpeas to really appreciate the black ones. I'll keep trying other black chickpea recipes until we've used up our current supply. But I have to admit, I probably won't bother restocking. I'd much rather focus my energies on the legumes I really enjoy: pigeon peas, yellow peas, chickpeas, and just about every lentil in the book. That said, if you find yourself with a bunch of black chickpeas and need a way to use them up (or if you just really like black chickpeas), this is a nice treatment of them. And if you don't have any black chickpeas on hand, Iyer notes that yellow chickpeas are perfectly acceptable as well.

Kishmish Kala Chana

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Ragahavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. golden raisins or sultanas
• 1 c. boiling water
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 4-6 cloves garlic
• 4 fresh green Thai or cayenne chilies
• 3-4 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 c. tomato sauce
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 3 c. cooked black chickpeas
• 2 c. water
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 2 tsp. Dhania-Jeera Masala

Directions

1. Pour boiling water over raisins and set aside for ~30 minutes.
2. Drain raisins, reserving soaking water.
3. Combine raisins, onion, garlic, and chilies in food processor and mince. If you don't have a food processor, mince by hand. Stir in ginger paste.
4. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
5. Add raisin mixture and stir-fry for ~5 minutes.
6. Add the reserved soaking water and deglaze the pan.
7. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has been absorbed (2-4 minutes).
8. Add tomato sauce and salt.
9. Reduce heat to medium-low, partially cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for ~15 minutes.
10. Stir in chickpeas, water, and 2 Tbsp. cilantro.
11. Raise heat to medium and bring to a boil.
12. Simmer vigorously, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened slightly (8-10 minutes).
13. Stir in cream and spice blend and simmer, uncovered, for another 2 minutes.
14. Sprinkle with remaining cilantro and serve.

There is a note from Iyer at the end of the recipe saying that it can be made into an interesting soup as well. He recommends adding a bell pepper and a bit of Punjabi garam masala to the mix.