Crunch and greens
A bhel, the crunchy snack, but built mostly from chickpeas, spinach and herbs.
Black chickpeas bring protein, the spinach and herbs bring greens and vitamins, and a sweet tamarind-jaggery chutney pulls it together. A recipe from Isha's kitchen, a snack you don't have to treat as a treat.
What would a snack of greens and crunch do to your afternoon?
What you'll need
- 1 cup black chickpeas, soaked 4 hours
- 1 cup tender baby spinach, leaves halved (no longer than 2 inches)
- ¼ cup raw mango, finely chopped
- 4 dates, chopped
- ½ cup fresh coriander, coarsely chopped
- ¼ cup mint leaves, chopped
- ¼ cup carrot, in matchsticks
- ¼ cup cabbage, finely chopped
- ½ cup sev or omapodi (crunchy chickpea-flour noodles)
- 2 tsp tamarind paste
- ¼ tsp ginger paste
- 6 heaped tsp jaggery
- ½ tsp cumin powder
- ½ tsp mustard oil
- ¼ tsp black pepper powder
- ½ tsp lime juice
- Salt to taste
Method
Pressure cook the chickpeas with a little salt, then drain and cool.
For the sweet chutney, mix the tamarind paste, ginger paste, jaggery and cumin powder.
For the cabbage, mix it with the mustard oil, pepper, a little salt and the lime juice, and leave 5 minutes.
Toss everything else together, except the sev, then fold in the cabbage mix and the chutney.
Scatter the sev over the top and serve straight away, while it's crunchy.
Make it a few times, and notice how a snack of greens and crunch leaves you, against the one you'd usually reach for.