gMuch of the Indian population is vegetarian, and they enjoy themost extensive vegetable dishes in the world. This is not onlybecause of the predominant Hindu religion with its respect forall living creatures. Also feeding 1 billion Indian peoplenowadays can be done much more efficiently by growing vegetablesin stead of animals. Last but not least: when a refrigerator isnot available, it is much easier to use up small portions ofvegetables, in stead of having to slaughter and store 1 biganimal.For vegetarian dishes, you will notice that each Indian regionhas distinct cooking techniques and flavoring principles toprepare them.You have probably also noticed that there are many, many"curry"-recipes. Actually "Kari" is the Tamil (one of the manylanguages spoken in India) translation for the English word"sauce". And "curry" is the western way of pronouncing thisword. Befor...

...e coming to Malaysia, my simple western recipe for usingchick peas was to add them in thick soups... Since Malaysia isthe melting pot of all Asian cuisines, I notice that there areas much chick pea curry recipes as that there are people here.Here is one of them: a home-cooked chick pea curry recipe frommy Indian friend Ssussi. She uses a lot of fresh ingredients andher recipe takes a bit more of your time than expected for sucha simple yet delicious dish.INGREDIENTS* 1 can of chick peas (15 1/2 Oz; 439 gr)* 1 medium onion, finely chopped* 1 teaspoon ginger, finely chopped* 1 clove garlic, finely chopped* 1 green chilly, finely chopped* 2 medium well ripened tomatoes, seeded and chopped* 1 tablespoon fresh coriander chopped* 1 tablespoon lemon juice* 10 g vegetable oil * Spices:- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric- 1/2 tablespoon ground coriander- 1 tea spoon "garam masala"- salt to taste PREPARATION1. Drain chick peas, reserving the liquid.2. Cook the onions, ginger garlic, chilies and turmeric in thevegetable oil until golden and softened.3. Add the tomatoes and cook to soften, then add the groundcoriander and chick peas.4. Cook for 10 minutes, add the reserved liquid and cook afurther 10 minutes.5. Add "garam masala", lemon juice and stir in the freshcoriander. Cook gently for 2-3 minutes, adding more liquid, ifneeded, to make a sauce.Serve with "naan bread", "chapati" or as a side dish....