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.

@Frenchfancy here you go:

https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/citrusy_cabbage_salad_with_cumin_and_coriander/

Sounds delicious @AllTangledUpInTitlesAndTiaras

Thank you @AllTangledUpInTitlesAndTiaras I agree it would be a really nice accompagnement to the chickpeas.

That's a lovely looking salad. I happen to have all of the ingredients in, so that sorts out tonight's meal! Just have to think what to have with it now.

It's great - really zesty and fresh.

Thank you OP for highlighting this lovely recipe. I made this with good old Aldi tinned chickpeas, good quality tomatoes and we had for lunch yesterday, cooked slowly and reheated. Served with the yoghurt sauce and rice, definite keeper.

Anyone frozen it?

I made half-quantity just for me, with the intention of freezing some.
But while it was cooling, it seemed to just disappear.......

Ok here is my update. Despite my protestations many pages ago that ONLY jarred chickpeas would do, we werent in the right shops for them and I wanted to do the dish, so I did it with Aldi tinned!

I was also lucky enough to find a bag of peeled garlic at the greengrocers (we rarely visit there).

So, I set to work

Its way way way too hot for me. I have had a little, not with the oil over it with plain rice and I managed a small amount but I think I would have liked to have been able to enjoy the oil. OH has eaten a very small portion, bit much for him but he obviously liked it. I have a huge amount left. I think Im going to blend it up, almost like a hummus texture and freeze it in small amounts to use as a base for other dishes. The flavours are lovely

So my plan this week is to make it again and I will tweak it, less chilli for me and loads and loads and loads more garlic. Probably the rest of the bag. I felt that for 4 people, 10 garlic cloves was a bit mean. Probably will add more tomato puree. I also used quite cheap basic toms, I would get some better ones next time. I see that Aldi do tinned cherry tomatoes. I wonder what they would be like

Aldi's tinned cherry toms are ok, as they should be at 75p a can. Definitely worth trying.

Oh and I also found it needed a lot longer than the recipe said, mine was in for 2 hours, probably more. I think someone else on the thread mentioned this

What brand of chick peas did you use? I used Napolina and found that the cooking time was perfect.

I didn't put any chilli in it at all @bellac11. I realised from reading the recipe it would be far too hot.

@bellac11 you could always make it again and combine the two - might dilute the heat sufficiently to make it palatable.

Aldi. I went from spouting off about jarred being the best and then using the bottom end!!!

It wasnt the chickpeas that needed more time, it was the softening and gooey unctuousness of the tomatoes that needed more

Yes you were right. Im going to do it without the speared chilli and just use one teaspoon of harrisa powder rather that the suggested chilli powder and chilli flakes.

Well just to update this, if you dont want to use the oil for dunking bread (I dont eat bread) you can use it to marinate veg before roasting

Delicious

Another update- I made it without the olive oil… it’s still lovely. Not gorgeously amazingly unctuous, but still pretty darn good.

@pickledandpuzzled did you remove 100% of the oil? And did you add in any other 'wet' ingredients? As the dish is very dry without the oil and I can't imagine it cooking nicely with no oil and no other changes, I can't even figure out how you would even mix the tomato paste into the spices and other ingredients without lubrication.

Now you mention it I forgot the tomato paste.

There was probably a tablespoon or two of liquid from the chickpeas- I didn’t drain them very thoroughly.
And the fresh tomatoes release a lot. I did it in the slow cooker.

It’s dryish, but not dry.

I made this inspired by the thread, more or less faithfully! If I'm.honest I think I'd prefer to halve the oil and add more tomatoes. Maybe I'm just not used to cooking things confit style. Very fragrant though!

I made it to the recipe, but upped the cumin/coriander and only added a little chili powder, and cooked it for almost twice as long. It was DELICIOUS. But, next time I will use 3/4 the oil, won't use super-expensive tomatoes, and probably make twice the quantity!

Does no one else 'recycle' the oil?

I wouldnt cut it out. In fact, ahem..... I used more than the recipe said!!!

It’s a bit cumin-y to recycle in a non-cumin recipe, didn’t you find?

I think next time I might add chunks of paneer towards the end, and use that to tame the spices rather than the yogurt dip. Maybe sprinkle some chopped fresh mint and coriander before serving with naan.

No, I chucked it over roasted veg.

Thank you for sharing, I will make this asap. Definitely keep the chickpeas, they work so well in tomato dishes. Will try with good tinned tomatoes (the fresh ones available at this time of year are so different from the summer garden tomatoes) and add a bit of honey to take the edge off them.

Thanks for sharing this and the other recipes. I have both my sons staying over Christmas, one a vegetarian and one not (I like either way). Non-veggie son has just told me tonight that he’s going more the veggie route now and can I do meat-free meals - I’m delighted, it makes everything so much easier! I love the flavours of Ottolenghi’s food, so these will be perfect and I’m really looking forward to trying them.

I tried this this, and was not very successful at all. But nevertheless, I think I know where I went wrong, and am going to try again. I thought the garlic and the speared chillis might be an issue, but neither were, but I went with half-quantities for two people, and and I think that should be doubled. Especially as I cooked it earlier, and then slowly re-heated, and after all that, there wasn't much left. But I think, double the quantities of what I did before, and don't re-heat, and it will be fine.