Black chickpea and sweet potato frittata bites

I made these Black Chickpea and Sweet Potato frittata Bites over the festive period. 

I had some friends coming over for a few hours, so wanted to make some light bites and nibbles for them which included these Black chickpea and sweet potato frittata, which was sliced into bite size pieces.  Its both sweet and savoury.  You can see the studded black chickpeas and orange sweet potato chunks with a flicker of red here and there from a red pepper.  It was nice to nibble. 

As usual, I made way too much of this Black chickpea and sweet potato frittata bites. I wanted to give some to my guests to take home, but they were on their way somewhere else, so I ended up giving it to D to take into work the following day for his lunch at work.  He very much enjoyed it.  

I would like to add this is perhaps one of the easiest recipes to veganize by substituting the eggs for chickpea flour.  In fact, I may do that one day. 

By the way have you noticed that the food on my blog this week has been mostly burnished brown colours?!  

Black Chickpeas and Carrot Curry Perfect for Halloween

I am going to a gig tonight and am looking forward to it.  It hosted at a Miners Institute in the Welsh valleys.  D is taking his camera, so who knows I may be able to share more later in the week, but before I go off gallivanting, I thought I would share this orange and black bowl of food.

Yes, another one, that is perfect for those cooking up a feast for the Halloween weekend. 

The black comes from black chickpeas and orange from carrots or course, for the beady eyed amongst you there are some 'brain like' pieces in the bowl too, this is cauliflower that has turned orange from the turmeric.

The recipe is adapted from my vegan Marrow Curry with Chickpeas, but this one is studded with black chickpeas and in place of the marrow, carrots and cauliflower. Please don't worry too much if you can't find black chickpeas where you are, just substitute it with the traditional variety.

Black Chickpeas Salad with Coriander

The weather is so changeable at the moment, its gone all warm again.

I came home a little earlier than usual and wanted to eat something quite light, hence this Black Chickpeas Salad with Coriander.

Of course, this was not going to be enough as a meal for two, so alongside the Black Chickpeas Salad with Coriander, I made a Tomato Tarte Tatin.  It made for a nice change.  The feta here is optional, I used it as that is what I had in the fridge, but you could substitute it with halloumi cheese or if your going for a vegan or dairy free option, perhaps smoked tofu.  I think you need a soft texture with the nutty black chickpeas and the fragrant herb brings it all together.

What I like about this salad too, it that it is quite seasonal in colours - going all autumnal, but also a perfect salad to knock up for a Halloween feast if you are planning a vegan or vegetarian Black Food Menu.  

Please don't worry too much if you can't find black chickpeas where you are, just substitute it with the traditional kind, but  do try and find them - You will always find them in South Asian supermarkets or greengrocers and they are sold as Kala Channa.  However, I have noted over the past couple of years, even supermarkets are selling Indian brands labelled as Kala Chana and they are reasonably priced, you can get three tins for a pound in some places (see here), and in a time of austerity - every pound matters.  You can even find the dried variety too, but that takes a little more forward planning.  

I am sharing this Black Chickpeas Salad with Coriander with Souper Sundays hosted by Kahakai Kitchen. I mentioned before, I don't always get to join in, but it is a pleasure when I do.  Thanks for hosting Deb; and also #EatYourGreens Vegetarian and Vegan Blog challenge hosted by me this month.  Eat Your Greens is also co-hosted by The VegHog.  Please do join in.  For those of you who have not participated before, please Follow this link on how to join in . 

Marrow Curry with Black Chickpeas

Everybody seems to be going crazy for black chickpeas which surprises me.  Black chickpeas are a staple in many South Asian homes.  Black chickpeas are known as kala channa or kala cholay.   

I've never featured black chickpeas on my blog for two reasons.  My family, either my mother or sister in laws make it for me when I go over and its not that often, so its hearty humble vegetarian food for my belly and secondly,  I find its time consuming to soak the black chickpeas overnight and then cook it slowly - when its mostly me eating them, as D is not that keen on them.  It is worth cooking from scratch  though as the flavour is completely different to the traditional chickpea.  Black chickpeas are more nutty.  So it was interesting to try some black chickpeas that come ready cooked in a tin. I've a few original black chickpea recipe ideas up my head, but this time I wanted to keep it simple and true to my heritage and decided to make a South Asian style vegetable curry.  

You can use any vegetable you like, but as I have marrows coming from the garden like nobodys business and its in season, I have decided to use it for this reason.  

I have made both vegetarian and vegan Marrow Curry with Chickpeas, but this one is studded with black chickpeas. Please don't worry too much if you can't find black chickpeas where you are, just substitute it with the traditional variety.