Recipe video above. I never knew chickpeas could be so meltingly creamy by adding a smidge of baking soda! I also love how the sauce is thickened by cooking lentils until they breakdown, two neat tricks picked up from this Pakistani Lahori Chanay by Sugar Spice & More. Combined with an Afghan spice mix from the chickpea curry in Parwana, a wonderful Afghan cookbook by Durkhanai Ayubi, adapted in pursuit of recreating the chickpea curry I had from Afghan Sufra in Lakemba, an area of Sydney known for its wonderful Middle Eastern and sub-continental food scene. I’m obsessed!
Sauté - Melt the ghee in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the cinnamon and toast for 30 seconds. Add the onion, ginger, garlic and bay leaves. Cook for 3 minutes until the onion is translucent (stir regularly so the garlic & ginger don't catch).
Spices and lentils - Add the Spices and stir for 30 seconds. Add the lentils and stir to coat in the spices.
Simmer lentils - Add the stock and salt. Stir, bring to a simmer. Lower the head to medium, put the lid on and simmer for 15 minutes.
Simmer chickpeas - Add the chickpeas, water and baking soda. Increase the heat to make it simmer again. Then lower the stove slightly and leave to simmer gently for 30 minutes without a lid or until the lentils mostly broken down to make a thin gravy (you can cook an extra 10 minutes to thicken more if you want).
Serve with rice on the side and Afghan or other flatbreads for dunking, drizzled with yogurt and sprinkled with fresh coriander if you want (I do).
Notes
1. Dried split lentils - deliberately selected as they cook fast (10 minutes), then we overcook so they break down a bit to thicken the sauce naturally. Other types of dried lentils/split peas, whole red lentils etc take longer so you'll throw out timing, see the ingredients section for times for different types. Canned lentils - haven't tried though I know it won't be quite the same, it should work: drain, add with chickpeas (ie skip the entire lid-on simmer step). 2. Chickpeas - This is even better if you cook your own dried chickpeas! :) You will need 720g (4 1/2 cups) of cooked chickpeas - start with 1 1/2 cups of dried chickpeas.3. Spice subs - Try not to skip or sub the turmeric and cardamom as they are what distinguishes this from Indian and other sub-continent curries made with similar spices. But, here are suggestions for swap outs (still tasty, though not as intended).
Either coriander or cumin with curry powder or Garam Masala
4. Afghan bread - soft bread flatbread similar to Indian flatbreads that can be the size of small yoga mats! Ryde locals - find them at Bahar Persian Food, Paradise Supermarket and 32 Bakehouse on Church St, excellent value, freezes perfectly. Everybody loves ripping into the gigantic sheets of bread!Leftovers will keep for 4 to 5 days in the fridge, or freezer for 3 months.