Lemony Chickpea & Macaroni Chaat

Here's another original from my kitchen - Chickpea & Macaroni Chaat!! As all my friends and family know, I love to be creative in the kitchen. So, when we got home last Saturday, exhausted after some biking, we couldn't wait to get some lunch. Well, it was closer tea time and the breakfast we'd eaten had long been digested. Of course, we could have eaten out. But our new mantra is to avoid eating out as much as possible - primarily with the aim of avoiding unnecessary calories from restaurant food and hence to replace any such meal with a healthier home-cooked alternative.

Macaroni seemed to be on the menu, but I really wanted to something different with it - something spicy, something tangy, something really really savoury. So while I set it on the boil, I started gathering all that I was craving for - chickpeas, chillies, lemon, onion, curry leaves. Confused?? Check out the delicious chaat below!!

Ingredients:
2 cups macaroni
1 can chickpeas, drained
1 medium onion, chopped fine
2 green chillies, minced
6-8 curry leaves
1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
Salt to taste
1 tbsp olive oil


Method:

1. Cook the macaroni as per packet instructions in plenty of water and a teaspoon of salt. Drain and set aside.
2. In a large heavy bottomed saucepan, heat the olive oil. Reduce the heat to medium, and add the mustard seeds. When they begin to pop, add the cumin.
3. Next add the chillies and curry leaves. Fry for 30 seconds, then add the onions. Fry them until they are transparent.
4. Drain the chickpeas and add them to the fried onions. Cover and cook for 5-7 minutes.
5. Next add the macaroni and salt to taste, blend into the prepared mix, cover and cook for 2 minutes.
6. Turn off the heat, squeeze the lemon into the chaat, mix well. Serve immediately.

This mouth-watering chaat goes out to Presto Pasta Nights hosted this week by Ruth at Once Upon a Feast. It also goes to My Legume Love Affair - 3rd Helping, a event conceived by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook , and hosted this month by Lucy of Nourish Me.

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