After serving it at a barbecue, I received numerous requests for my tamarind chickpea salad. This is not a typical salad recipe, nor would it even be considered one. The only work put into this recipe is chopping the cilantro and mixing the sauces. It combines two of my favorite ingredients from childhood: tamarind and chickpeas.
Tamarind sauce is one of my favorite dressings to cool down overly spicy dishes. It's a sweet condiment made from tamarind pods. Tamarind can be found in any Asian grocery store in the form of a concentrated paste or bottled. Some popular dishes where you might recognize tamarind are pad thai, the dipping sauce for samosas, Trinidadian doubles, or a simple chutney.
Another ingredient that is very common in every Caribbean household is the chickpea. Growing up, I always referred to garbanzo beans as chickpeas. Chickpeas made up 40% of my diet. We ate them curried, blended, or fried (fried channa).
Feeling homesick after weeks of eating tapas inspired me to create this quick and easy recipe. In under 10 minutes, you will be able to prepare this dish for your next snack, side dish, or even a full-on lunch. Find the recipe here!
| Prep Time | Cook Time | Total Time |
| 5 MIN | 2 MIN | 7 MIN |
Ingredients
2 cups of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2-3 tablespoons of tamarind sauce
1 tablespoons cilantro
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon honey (optional)
1 teaspoon green chili hot sauce
Instructions
- Chop the cilantro finely and then set aside.
- Rinse the chic peas and place in a medium sized bowl.
- Mix thoroughly in a small bowl add the tamarind sauce, curry powder, salt, honey and hot sauce. (For this recipe, I will be using my own sauce, Pina Caliente.) You can also add a pinch of cumin to get the full effect.
- Spoon the cilantro and tamarind sauce mix into the bowl of garbanzo beans until each bean is coated.
