Curried Chickpea Polenta

There is a fantastic restaurant nearby that makes some wicked curried chickpea polenta.  As I've said before, medical school interferes with my restaurant budget, so I decided to try my hand at recreating this dish at home.  I have made traditional polenta before, but chickpea polenta was a new venture. Polenta has both good and bad reputations.  It's very popular among foodies as a flexible vegetarian go-to in place of pasta, as a base for vegetable ragouts, and even in appetizers, but I think using it this way makes it seem much more complicated than it truly is.  At the end of the day making polenta is a great trick to have up your apron sleeve because its simple to make, is very easy to customize depending on the dish and how you intend to serve it, and it always impresses guests.

To make chickpea polenta you need to start with chickpea flour.  Also known as garbanzo flour, besan, and gram flour, it's made from dried chickpeas.  That makes this an excellent source of iron, protein, and fiber - much more nutritious than traditional polenta made from cornmeal.  I found it in the bulk section of my local natural foods co-op, but I have also seen it in the baking aisle at many supermarkets.

Even though making your own polenta is a fast and easy process, it does require a bit of time to chill before you can cut it for frying or baking, so plan ahead.  After its chilled and set, you can either sear it in a pan or bake it - from personal baking is much easier saving you both time and calories.  I certainly hope you'll give this recipe a try, it's well worth extra planning and is a great addition to spice up my Minnesota Tomato Soup.  It's also delicious as an appetizer served in a lettuce wrap with roasted red pepper, avocado and a sprig of cilantro.

Curried Chickpea Polenta, Serves 4
1 cup chickpea flour
1 tsp. curry powder
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
1 T. olive oil
Mix spices and flour together in a separate bowl, set aside.  Bring water, salt, and olive oil to a gentle simmer in a heavy bottomed pot.  Slowly whisk in the flour mixture.  Mixture with thicken and set quite quickly, continue to simmer until mixture starts to stick together and pull away from the sides of the pan.  Remove from heat and pour into a greased 9x9 baking dish.  Chill at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Slice chilled polenta into 1" pieces, arrange onto a greased baking sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes, then broil for an additional 5 minutes to brown.