Ottolenghi's confit chickpeas - anybody made it?

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

https://ottolenghi.co.uk/recipes/confit-tandoori-chickpeas

Looks lovely. I am planning to make it for a party, so scaled up, as part of a buffet. I was thinking of using several different types of beans instead of just chickpeas, and, to keep costs down and for quickness, tinned tomatoes. What I wondered was if it really needs all the garlic, as that looks like a huge amount (and I am a garlic lover). Thoughts? TIA.

I suspect the fresh tomatoes would be important and I'd use all the garlic

God almighty, not only does that look fantastic but I actually have all the ingredients for it in the cupboard/fridge!!

Doesnt sound a lot of garlic to me and yes definitely dont use tinned toms, the flavour is different

Im wondering if this could go in a slow cooker?

That sounds delicious! I think I'd prefer just chickpeas though to mixed beans although I'm sure it would be fine either way. Seems like the garlic is meant to stay whole and quite sweet rather that become really pungent within the dish so it would probably need a lot. You might get away with less but crushing a few.more.

Tinned tomatoes would change it a lot I reckon. Thick expensive ones would, i think, be too 'tomato puree-y' in flavour and thinner ones too acidic. I think this would throw off the balance of spices. Maybe a trial run on a smaller scale before committing to a big version with tinned?

Yes, it's glorious. However I dont think you could swap the chickpeas for other beans, they sort of soften and other beans would maybe just dissolve.

You probably could swap the tomatoes for tinned but they basically roast in the original recipe so it would be quite different with tinned.

The garlic softens in flavour as it cooks

It uses loads of oil so maybe a cost saving would be swap some of the olive oil for a flavourless one like sunflower.

It's amazing. In fact we have it in the oven right now.

Yes it needs the garlic. No don't substitute beans, the texture would be wrong

Why not make a batch first and see what you think about the garlic? I suspect if the recipe asks for it it needs it.

The garlic will be roasted though so much like onion does when you cook it for long enough will have a sweet taste rather than overly garlicky.

It needs to be the best quality tomatoes you can afford - the taste of the dish will entirely depend on the quality of the tomoatoes so I don't think tinned will do as they will be entirely the wrong texture.

A 99p cheap bag of watery cherry tomatoes also won't do.

That looks lovely and so easy!

Wow, thanks all! OK, fresh tomatoes it is, and also all the garlic. That was what I wanted to hear, that it mellows when cooked whole. I will be buying ready peeled, though, as peeling garlic is a dreadful faff. I wonder if instead of doing four times the quantity, as I'd been thinking, I should do double, and make something else involving other beans. That would probably be more sensible. And I will use olive oil. I love the flavour of olive oil.

That’s dinner sorted tomorrow yum!

My experience of Ottolenghi is do what he says

At least the first time, and certainly if you're cooking for other people. I think his recipes are an extraordinary balancing act. Don't pull out the Jenga pieces on a whim.

And definitely not cheap cherry tomatoes - I know how chewy and watery they can be.

Oh my, now I must make this!

This is my go to dinner party dish with rice or couscous - not really about the thread but I like to share the Ottolenghi love 😁

https://www.panningtheglobe.com/ottolenghis-roast-chicken-zaatar-sumac/

@WatchOutMissMarpleIsAbout, that sounds fabulous. Bookmarked for another time.

You've made this?

So when its finished is there oil left over or does it sort of reduce?

Do you think it would go in a slow cooker

And would it work with adding a handful of red lentils or barley?

Sorry for all the questions, its not often I can imagine myself cooking one of his recipes but this looks fantastic

@WatchOutMissMarpleIsAbout Thank you! That's another one to go on my list. I still don't have any of his books, even though I love his recipes. Must change that!

Ready peeled garlic?

Not in the brine/oil in jars I hope, horrible flavour

Dont go to all the effort of getting the right ingredients to possibly ruin it with too much acid

Sorry OP I see you were wanting to scale it up, so yes its a lot of garlic to peel!

No, this stuff. I started getting it earlier in the year when I had a broken finger and it was a godsend. https://www.ocado.com/products/wonderfully-curious-peeled-garlic-559681011

@bellac11 There's no liquid so barley and lentils wouldn't really work as they need to rehydrate.

Yes there's lots of oil left over, very tasty with fresh crusty bread.

I don't use a slow cooker I'm afraid so don't really know how they work.

I can imagine how it is with bread but a combination of grumbling gall bladder, gastric surgery and eating low(ish) carb means dunking bread in tasty oil is a thing of the past for me. Shame.

How how did I not know about the ready garlic. Just added to my Ocado order!

Ready peeled garlic is one of the laziest things I've ever seen! You can buy a little rubber garlic peeler that you pop a clove in, roll it a few seconds and it's peeled.

If it's the difference between being arsed to make something from scratch or not I'm totally on board with ready peeled garlic.

Indeed I have a packet of cubes of frozen crushed garlic and also another of frozen crushed ginger in the freezer. They are a godsend for being able to set off e.g a bolognese or something in the slow cooker before leaving for work in the morning without having garlic smell on you all day.

WHAAAAT!!!!

Jesus, how have I not found this stuff

So just garlic, nothing else with it?