Chickpea and Date Masala with Coconut Kale

I've always thought that cooking was very similar to painting.  As an artist, I have a set of materials and techniques that I know how to use and manipulate in order to get a desired effect.  This means understanding all their nuances, how far I can push them, and which materials are best suited to particular techniques.

Anyone who cooks has their set of tools and techniques:  A series of ingredients and cooking methods one is comfortable working with and knowledgeable enough in them to experiment and make things up as one goes along. It's a comfortable safety zone that allows for creativity - because at the end of the day if we mess up - unlike a painting that can be thrown away or painted over - we still have to eat it.

My comfort zone does not extend to any kind of Asian cuisine.  And if you take away the meat component, I tend to feel lost in the kitchen.  So, I took it as a challenge that for Saturday's meal I had to make a strictly veggie dinner for our guests, Grollis.  My inspiration was this rather cheeky article in the Times.

The entree was a chickpea and date masala served over a bed of coconut kale and with a side of cardamom infused rice.  This gave me the welcomed excuse to go shopping for spices. Ideally, I would have gone up to Jackson Heights.  But in order to save time (but not necessarily money - $36 a pound for cardamom!) I was able to find everything at Sahadi's. 

I decided that I wanted to use fresh, raw chickpeas (not canned).  I soaked them overnight, simmered them for an hour and then cooked them with onions, garlic, tomato paste and the dates.  The masala this recipe called for was made out of cardamom, cumin, cayenne and star anise.

The kale was marinated for 4 hours in coconut milk, cayenne, salt and fresh lemon juice.  The recipe originally called for the the kale to be grilled, but being mid November, I opted to use the cast iron skillet instead.

I almost broke down and served some seared lamb chops.  But, instead I told myself the meal would suffice with a light appetizer (which it did). I decided to make use of the ingredients in the fridge and made tomato and basil bruschetta paired with a celery, feta and date salad.

The final dish was a success (Jeremy, the bona fide meat lover, declared it the best vegetarian meal he's ever had), and Grollis were thoroughly impressed (I now owe Hollis the recipe, as promised). I can not describe how perfectly the chickpeas complemented the kale.  You'll just have to try it.

We paired the meal with a Six Point IPA growler and a jammy, but light red wine - Toro Olivara - from Donna de Vine in Brooklyn.  For the full recipes click here and here.

Grollis brought a lovely rum apple cake which we complemented with alternating sips of whiskey and fresh Asam tea (courtesy of Jackie via London).  Good times.