Hi friends!
This week’s Cooking With Maddie newsletter is all about the pantry. Last week, I went off on how amazing the freezer is— if you remember correctly, I think I called it sacred. I shared how taking inventory of our freezer actually led us to a much cheaper grocery bill, less cluttered shelves and some really delicious dinners.
This week, I figured I’d do the same thing, but with our pantry. Or what I’ll call a pantry but in all actuality, it’s really just a cabinet meant for dishes. Why do apartments never have proper pantries?
Like our freezer, the pantry was honestly a hot mess. It’s home to half-empty pasta boxes, oh so many butters (peanut, apple, peach) and an embarrassing amount of jasmine rice. We store our onions, shallots and garlic in the pantry as well because they need to be in a dark, dry place. You and me both girl. What this means is there’s onion and garlic skins lining every inch of the shelves. Weirdly enough our canned goods situation isn’t all that bad. I mean, yes, we have four cans of corn and things we hardly ever use but never want to be without (chipotles in adobo sauce, sweetened condensed milk, artichokes, etc.), but for the most part, I’m pretty proud of how in-control the can section of the pantry showed up.
Knowing I wanted to make a dent in the pantry before move-out, a lot of our meals this week relied heavily on pantry staples.
Earlier this week, we whipped up Alison Roman’s Spicy White Bean Stew (or as her fans know it: Stew 2.0). It’s tomato-y, bean-y, spicy. It’s amazing. You can watch her make it here.
We also made Indian Butter Chickpeas, inspired by Melissa Clark’s NYT recipe.
Canned chickpeas are one of my most beloved pantry items. We always have them in the house, yet I consistently add a few cans to our cart at the grocery store every single time. I love having them on hand to boost up salads, make into hummus or of course, make Roman’s The Stew. You can read all about that in Newsletter #2.
Meanwhile, I’ve been having daydreams about Indian food. And I’ll be honest with you— I really haven’t had that much Indian food in my lifetime. It’s actually something I’m embarrassed to admit. I didn’t grow up on it, and it wasn’t until becoming obsessed with Priya Krishna that I realized how much I was missing.
Watching Krishna make Aloo Gobi, Kadhi and Saag Feta made me want to start incorporating more Indian recipes into my repertoire. On a side note, I’ve since become obsessed with using ghee instead of butter or olive oil. Thanks Priya!
And while I know Butter Chicken, or in this case Chickpeas, is like the beginner’s recipe to Indian food, that’s why I wanted to share it with you all this week. If you’re at all curious about Indian food, this recipe is a great introduction. I could even call it a gateway drug.
For the Indian Butter Chickpeas, you’ll need:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, diced
1 ½ teaspoon salt
4 garlic cloves, finely grated
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 small cinnamon stick
1 28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes
1 15 oz can coconut milk
2 15 oz cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Pinch of cayenne
Cilantro
Start by melting the butter over medium heat in a dutch oven. If you’re looking for an inexpensive, but still-gets-the-job-done dutch oven, I use this one from Amazon.
Add your onions and ½ teaspoon salt. Cook until golden and browned around the edges, stirring occasionally. The recipe says this step takes about 20 minutes because you don’t want to rush the onions and burn the butter. When I made it, it took ~15 minutes, with me stirring every so often.
Stir in your grated garlic and ginger. Cook another minute.
Add your cumin, paprika, garam masala and cinnamon stick. Cook for 30 seconds. If you do not have garam masala, you can make your own. Combine cumin, coriander, cardamom, black pepper, cinnamon and cloves.
Next, add in the tomatoes and its juices. You can use a large spoon or flat spatula to break down the tomatoes, but I just went in with a pair of snippers and cut them down to smaller pieces. Stir in the coconut milk and remaining 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
Stir in your drained and rinsed chickpeas. Add a pinch of cayenne and bring the pot back up to a simmer. Cook for another 10 minutes. Remove cinnamon stick.
I personally like to eat this over a bowl of white rice with a side of naan. I buy this Stonefire one from the grocery store.
Now that I have this recipe under my belt, I’m so excited to try some more. Here’s a few other Indian recipes on my to-do list—
Food52’s Shrimp Biryani
Saveur’s Spicy Indian Cabbage-and-Potato Curry (Bund Gobhi Aur Aloo Ki Subzi)
Bon Appetit’s Green Chutney with Chaat Masala
The Kitchn’s Lentil Dal
For what’s giving me life this week, it was spending my Thursday volunteering at Growing Gardens in Boulder, Colorado. We pulled weeds from the turnip and radish beds. We planted some arugula, and most importantly, we walked some cutie pie goats and a llama from one field to another. I walked away from that day so thankful for the goodie bag of fennel, poblano peppers, tatsoi and cherry tomatoes, but even more thankful for organizations like Growing Gardens who provide so much education and food donations to the Boulder community.
After a long day at the farm, I stopped by the incredible stationary shop, Two Hands Paperie, to stock up on even more greeting cards, and sipped on a turmeric latte from Wonder.
Wish I was with you,
Maddie