it's getting hot in here.....

I love the summer even when it gets hot. I would rather walk around my house with very little on that winter when you are piling on the layers. I love my crockpot today! This will be good with brown rice or just alone if you roll like that.

Curried Chickpeas with Fresh Ginger and Cilantro
2 cups dried chickpease
6 cups water
1 red onion finely chopped
1/4 cup sesame oil
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp black peppercorns
4 whole cloves
4 green cardamom pods
1 1/2 tsps pure chili powder
1 1/2 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp cayenne (optional)
salt to taste
juice of 1 lemon
plain yogurt for serving
3 fresh serrano chiles, seeded, deveined, and cut into julienne, for garnish
a few fresh cilantro leaves for garnish

rinse the chicpeas and place them in the slow cooker along with the water. cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours until the chickpeas are tender
in a large saute pan, brwon the onion in the sesame oil until dark brown in color about 15 minutes.
combine the cumin seeds, peppercorns, cloves, cardamom, chile powder, ginger, turmeric, garam masala, and cayenne in small blender or pestle and grind to a course powder.
add the coursely ground spices to the onion and continue to cook for another 5 minutes, then add the onion and spices to the cooked chicpeas. recover and continue cooking for another 30-60 minutes.

using an immersion blender puree some of the chickpeas in the crockpot to thicken the mixture.
add salt to taste, then stir in the lemon juice. ladle into bowls, add a dollop of yogurt and garnish with the chile slices and cilantro leaves.

Gotta run so I am going to publish this post with all its errors cause I got to get the kids out of the pool and dressed to get to dance class!