Swiss chard, chickpea and tamarind stew

Now, I love the sharp tang of tamarind, it makes my tongue feel alive especially when I am feeling poorly. I have to admit when others are feeling fluey, they may make a lemon drink, well I like to drink hot tamarind. So when I saw this recipe in the Guardian last year. I immediately tore it out to cook one of these days. Well that day arrived. It was so easy for me to put together as I had all the ingredients at home, small jar of tamarind concentrate remaining from the tamarind tofu and surprisingly even caraway seeds.

The recipe comes from Yotam Ottolenghi, chef/patron of Ottolenghi restaurant in London which he co-owns with Sami Tamimi. Ottolenghi is from Israel and Sami Tamimi is from Arab Eastern part of Jerusalem. Together, with their diverse backgrounds they have shared and introduced some robust flavours such as sumac, za’atar, ras el hanout, tahini and tamarind to a new audience. These spices, herbs, seeds and dressings all generously coat fresh vegetables, greens, grains and pulses, making them mouth wateringly appealing. The restaurant is not vegetarian, but serves a good selection of vegetarian and vegan based dishes. It is their creative and flavour packed dishes that have brought them into prominence, especially on the London food scene. I couldn't help myself comparing Ottolenghi to the Gate Restaurant, but the last time ‘veggie cuisine’ was promoted so highly in the mainstream like this was when the brothers Adrian and Michael Daniel opened their restaurant the Gate in Hammersmith, London in the early 1990s. The brothers introduced big, bold and bashful flavours like red and green harissa and zhug (schoog), and plating up exquisite and innovative looking vegetarian cuisine.
Although not a vegetarian himself, Yotam Ottolenghi features as the Guardian’s 'The New Vegetarian' column contributor. This space was previously honoured by Rose Elliot. Rose Elliot is a renowned British writer on vegetarian cooking. She has written over 50 vegetarian cookery books. She is a patron of the Vegetarian Society U.K and in 1999 was appointed MBE for services to vegetarian cookery. In fact Rose Elliot successfully pioneered the popular vegetarian column in the Guardian Weekend magazine, before being replaced by Yotam Ottolenghi. Rose Elliot is a committed vegetarian and a true advocate of vegetarian and vegetable based cuisine. Although she has been extremeley successful, I have noted that her books were marketed purely to a niche audience, namely vegetarians, whereas Ottolenghi has been able to win over vegetarians, non-vegetarians and vegans with his world influenced modern dishes, many of which happen to be vegetable based. For which I have to say Thank You. I have to admit Ottolenghi salads are far more interesting in flavour combinations than those you get from your regular deli; and for that many of us are grateful that vegetable based dishes on menu’s are being seen in a different light - appealing to a much wider audience.

Well, I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed each mouthful of this stew and why wouldn’t I? It contained ingredients I enjoy eating: the texture of chickpeas and the waft of coriander. As the rice absorbed the tomatoey tamarind sauce, it reminded me of a South Indian tamarind rice dish known as pulihora or puli sadham. D had one gripe, the stew had got cold very quickly, but other than that it was good, very good.
Swiss chard, chickpea and tamarind stew
Serves 4 with plain Basmati rice

Ingredients
300g Swiss chard (stems and leaves), cut into 1cm slices
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 tsp whole caraway seeds
2 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon tomato paste
400g tinned plum tomatoes, chopped up, juice and all
2 tablespoon of tamarind concentrate
300ml water
400g cooked chickpeas
1½ tsp whole coriander seeds, toasted and ground to a powder
Salt to taste
Greek yogurt (optional) for serving
1 big handful coriander leaves
Serve with plain basmati rice
method

Bring a medium pot of salted water to the boil, blanch the chard for two minutes and drain.
Put the onion, caraway and olive oil in a large, heavy-based pan and sauté over medium heat for 10 minutes, until the onion is soft and golden. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for about a minute. Add the tomatoes, tamarind concentrate, water, chickpeas, ground coriander and chard, and season to taste. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 30 minutes, by which time it should be the consistency of thick soup. Taste, and adjust seasoning. Serve with plain Basmati rice.
To serve, spoon the rice into shallow soup bowls, then make a crater in the centre of each mound. Pour a ladle or two into the rice crater. Spoon yogurt on top, if you like, drizzle with oil and finish with lots of coriander. Slightly adapted from the original recipe.