This is a salad recipe I received from my dear friend. It's fulfilling and a salad where you struggle to put the fork down and stop eating it- great to eat all year around but suits especially well of course when the pomegranates are in season and when the cold weather invites you to put something more spicy and nourishing into your body.
Probably everyone finds their own slight modifications to this salad, like I have. For example I don't like the store-bought mayonnaise, so I make my own for this salad and it's not complicated at all. Of course you can use a store bought normal or vegan mayonnaise as you choose. Also I use either romaine lettuce, rucola, Chinese cabbage as the lettuce part of this salad or leave the salad out all-together depending on what I have at home.
Curried chickpea-avocado salad with pomegranate seeds
For 6-8 persons
Ingredients
2 x 380g of chickpeas (I purchase this one or soak and boil my own chickpeas)
2-3 ripe avocados
1 ripe pomegranate seeds
1-2 tbsp curry powder
3-4 tbsp of soy sauce (I use tamari sauce, for example this one, as it's gluten free)
One pot or big handful of fresh basil
2 tbsp of olive oil
300-400g of mayonnaise (the quantity depends on how creamy you want to make the salad)
1 medium romaine lettuce or Chinese cabbage
Instructions
Strain the chickpeas and fry them with olive oil on the pan for couple of minutes, then add the curry powder and soy sauce. Mix well and fry another couple of minutes. Cool down the chickpeas.
You can also omit the frying of chickpeas, leave the olive oil out and mix the strained chickpeas straight with all the other ingredients.
If you are making your own mayonnaise here is an easy recipe.
Peel avocados and remove the pips. Cut avocado into pieces.
Remove the seeds from the pomegranate. There are multiple ways to do it, my Georgian ex-colleague taught me this method, which I find works the best. I cut the pomegranate into half horizontally, then cut smaller cuts around the halved pomegranates so I can slightly pull them open to expose more seeds. I take a big wooden spoon, a higher bowl and then whack with a wooden spoon, holding the half pomegranate on my hand, seeds out from the fruit. Here is the closest video I found, if you are looking for instructions.
Wash the basil leaves and gently rip them into smaller pieces with your hands.
If you are using salad, chop the Chinese cabbage into small strips or if using romaine lettuce then tear the salad leaves into smaller pieces with your hands (that way the leaves last longer as you tend to tear along the natural cell walls).
Mix the chickpeas mixture with avocado, pomegranate seeds, salad leaves, basil and mayonnaise in a big bowl or plate. Serve immediately.
Enjoy, probably this salad will be finished fairly quickly on your plates.
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