The soon-to-be-famous Chickpea and Tomato Stew Recipe 
from 
Madhur Jaffrey's World-Of-The-East Vegetarian Cookbook 

(with slight modifications by Kate Hanratty, inspired by Victor
Whitehead and Noor Kabani)

All apologies for the mish-mash of measuring units :-)  Serves a big
bunch (maybe 8-10 people or 6 really hungry humans)
***********************************************************************

Ingredients:

2 cans chickpeas, drained or 
2-3 cups of dried chickpeas, soaked and drained (warning, this takes
about 2 days, so plan accordingly!) 

2 28 oz cans of tinned tomatoes (diced or whole, as you choose) or 
1 dozen gorgeous red tomatoes, blanched and peeled (this doesn't take
2 days, but it's still darned inconvenient)

onion - as much as you can stand - finely chopped
garlic - ditto

fresh mint (3-4 stalks), cleaned and finely chopped
fresh coriander (2-3 bunches), cleaned and finely chopped

1-2 Tbsp olive oil (I prefer olive oil, but other varieties work very
nicely too) 


Directions:

Roast/saute the onions and garlic in oil in a medium to large pot
(4-12 L) over medium to low heat (this extracts a sweeter flavour, I
find and is less likely to burn the you-know-what out of your meal)

Add tomatoes and bring to a boil.  Simmer over medium heat until the
tomatoes take on a 'paste-like' consistency, or until you get tired of
waiting.

Add the chickpeas, mint and coriander and continue to simmer over low
heat for about 30-45 minutes or until it smells so good that you have
to eat it immediately.

Salt: add about 1 tsp. if you so desire; it will enhance the already
fabulous flavours.  But, if you are anti-NaCl, you have nothing to
fear, it will still taste delicious.

Serve and enjoy.  I like to serve rice on the side (makes a complete
protein when eaten in combination with the chickpeas, you know).  This
dish also tastes great cold.

Bon appetit.