Chickpea Scramble with Charred Spring Onion
Not an imitation of scrambled egg — a better thing in its own right. Crushed chickpeas, turmeric, a lot of black pepper, and spring onions taken as far as they will go before they burn.
- Prep 5 min
- Cook 15 min
- Total 20 min
- Serves 2
- Vegan
Method
Step 1. Tip the chickpeas into a bowl and crush them with a fork or a potato masher. Stop while about a third are still whole or half-whole — a completely smooth mash turns to paste in the pan.
Step 2. Put a frying pan over a high heat with a tablespoon of the oil. Lay in the whole spring onions and leave them for 2 minutes a side until properly blackened in patches. Lift them out and set aside.
Step 3. Turn the heat down to medium and add the remaining oil. Cook the garlic for 30 seconds, then add the turmeric and cumin and stir for 20 seconds more.
Step 4. Add the crushed chickpeas and the salt. Cook for 4 minutes, pressing them into the pan and turning them over, until they are hot through and the edges are catching gold.
Step 5. Pour in the plant milk and stir. It will look wet for a moment and then come together into something soft and scoopable. Take it off the heat while it still looks slightly too loose.
Step 6. Squeeze in the lemon and grind over more black pepper than feels right.
Step 7. Pile onto plates, lay the charred spring onions on top, scatter with coriander, and serve with warm flatbread and lime.
Notes from the kitchen
- Black salt (kala namak) is the sulphurous one that makes this taste uncannily eggy. It is worth buying a bag; a little goes a long way and it keeps for years. Plain salt is fine, it just tastes of chickpeas.
- Turmeric stains. Wipe the worktop straight away rather than later.
- Good on toast, better in a wrap with hot sauce, and it reheats in a pan with a splash of water.
