Not Too Spicy South African Chickpea Madras

Medium-hot madras made with fresh chickpea is spicy, but do not worry because this version is not very spicy hot, just kinda medium spicy. Making South African Indian food from scratch means, you control the heat, that’s the nice thing about cooking for yourself.

Add mild tasting kashmiri chili powder or use the hotter red Indian chili powders. Kashmiri chili powder or degi mirch is bright red, but mild in heat and used in and Indian cuisine, named after the region of Kashmir.

Chennai is the capital of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and on July 17, 1996, the city known as Madras was officially renamed Chennai however; the name of the world famous food dish did not change. Madras curry was created in southern India and gets its name from the city formally known as Madras. 

The Indian population in South Africa lives mostly in Durban and this is the reason Indian food is very popular in South Africa. Outside of India, South Africa has the largest Indian population in the world. The first Indians in South Africa arrived during the Dutch colonial era as slaves in 1684 and from the years 1690 to 1725 over 80% of the slaves were Indians. This practice continued until the end of slavery in 1838.

South Africa Indian population is over 1 million people of Indian descent. Easy Chickpea Madras recipe from my cousin’s home in Durban South Africa.

 

Chickpea Madras South African Indian Recipe.

Ingredients
2 cans chickpeas, drained
3 large red tomatoes
2 large onions, finely chopped
1 can tomato puree
5 cloves garlic, peeled, divided
1 red bell pepper, chopped and deseeded
1 hot pepper, chopped and deseeded
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin
5 fresh coriander leaves
1 teaspoon kashmiri chili powder
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon gram marsala
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
½ cup coconut milk

Directions
Over medium high heat, add oil into a large frying pan, sauté onions and spices for 3 minutes. Add remaining ingredients, and simmer on medium heat for 15-20 minutes. Serve over rice.