It was a lazy Saturday afternoon and I was trying to organize the things in my pantry, to make my grocery list for the week. I came across this tin of pre-cooked Garbanzo beans sitting quietly in a corner. My first thought... "Let me get this out and see what I can turn it into". My problem - one can of beans - too less to make a curry, and too much to eat it as is. So I adapted Geeta Balsekar's recipe for Chick Pea Salad from her book Vegetarian Cooking for a healthy evening snack.
The original recipe called for onions and spring onions, however I decided to stay away from it. In her recipe, she uses vegetable oil to bind everything, while in mine I used Light Mayo and a dash of dried mint to enhance the flavor.
This recipe is perfect for a quick healthy protein loaded snack...perfect for summer time and when old man winter arrives.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup pre-cooked/canned, strained Garbanzo beans
1/4 teaspoon chaat masala
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon fresh crushed cumin
1/4 teaspoon cumin powder
1/4 teaspoon dry crushed mint
1/4 teaspoon red chilli powder
1/2 tablespoon Light Mayo
1/4 cup diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon of finely chopped cilantro
Method:
Add garbanzo beans into a salad bowl. Add in all the other ingredients. Mix well. Garnish with freshly ground black pepper.
Serve.
Optional: You could refrigerate for 30 min, if you prefer it chilled. Alternately you could warm in the microwave for 1 min, if you'd prefer mildly warm.
