Have you heard the old saying about being a day late and a dollar short? Well, that’s just how I felt this week when it dawned on me that I was way overdue in tapping our maple trees. We usually tap them in early February when the wild yellow aconite blooms on our hillside bordering the East Fork river. That gives plenty of time to catch the sap as it runs up the trees. But the aconite was late because of our intense cold weather. It started flowering last week. We just got the trees tapped a few days ago, so here’s hoping.

On top of all this, I’ve been going through meatless recipes to share with you during Lent.

Daughter-in-law Jessie came to the rescue there. She made a tantalizing Indian butter chickpea recipe with tomatoes, lots of spices and coconut milk. She added tofu for good measure. Served over rice and garnished with cilantro, this is a dish I’ll be making for sure. 

The bonus? Swap out coconut milk with your favorite plant based milk, or even heavy cream. Just don’t use sweetened coconut milk. 

Now as far as the garam masala goes, if you don’t use it a lot, store it in the freezer to keep it at optimum quality.

And one more thing. I’ll keep you updated on our maple tapping progress! 

Indian butter chickpeas with tomatoes, tofu and coconut milk

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter

1 large onion, minced – yellow or white, but not sweet 

1 teaspoon salt, or more to taste

1 generous tablespoon garlic, minced 

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons sweet paprika 

2 teaspoons garam masala 

1 small cinnamon stick or 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

28 oz can whole peeled plum tomatoes with juice

15 oz can UNSWEETENED coconut milk 

2 cans, 15 oz each, chickpeas, drained, not rinsed

Extra firm tofu, cubed – optional 

Couple shakes ground cayenne, to taste – optional

Cooked rice 

Cilantro leaves for garnish

Instructions

Melt butter in large pot over medium heat. Stir in onion and 1⁄2 teaspoon salt. Cook until golden and browned around edges, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. (Don’t turn heat up to medium-high; keeping heat on medium ensures even browning without burning butter.)

Stir in garlic and ginger, and cook another minute. 

Stir in cumin, paprika, garam masala and cinnamon stick or cinnamon, and cook another minute.

Add tomatoes. Smoosh down a bit with potato masher.

Stir in coconut milk and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to  simmer, and continue to cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mash tomatoes again if necessary.

Stir in chickpeas, tofu if using, and cayenne. Let cook 10 minutes to meld flavors. Taste and add more salt, and cinnamon, if necessary. If using cinnamon stick, remove. 

Serve over rice, topped with cilantro.

Adapted slightly from New York Times.

Tip: What is garam masala?

An aromatic spice mix originating in North India, it may contain cumin, coriander, cardamom, black pepper, cinnamon, cloves and bay.