Desi Chickpea Salad

Chickpeas, aka garbanzo beans, are tasty and very good for you -- and if you buy them dried and cook them at home, they are also WAY cheaper than the canned kind. (Do it the easy way and cook them in a slow cooker; then you can freeze them and use 'em whenever the urge takes you.) Anyway, having recently visited my friendly neighborhood Indian grocery store, I had a whole lotta cooked desi chickpeas (the dark brown kind) and a family to feed, so I came up with this:

DESI CHICKPEA SALAD
1½ cups cooked desi chickpeas
1 jalapeño pepper, stemmed, seeded and minced
about 1 cup red onion, minced
2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
juice of 1 lime or lemon
chat masala powder to taste
salt to taste

In a bowl, mix together chickpeas, jalapeño, onion and tomatoes. Add lime juice and chat masala and toss well. Taste for seasoning and add salt if needed. Chill until ready to serve.

Makes 4 generous servings or 6 side-dish servings.

NOTE TO SPICY 'FRAIDY CATS: Don't be scared of the jalapeño! If you take the seeds and pith out, all that's left is flavor without excessive heat. Just be careful not to wipe your eyes after mincing it up. Learn from my fail.

Contributor: Soozcat