Chickpea, Potato, and Cabbage Curry

Coming off a wonderful cooperatively cooked Indian dinner for 70, I have been inspired to make more than my usual curried lentils and chana dal. Usually it is my husband who is experimenting with curries, but I am more likely to cook legumes than he is, and so there is a place for me in this paradigm. This is adapted from Madhur Jaffrey' recipe in 'From Curries to Kebabs' 1 cup dried garbanzo beans 1 cup chunked onion 4 garlic cloves ¼-½ teaspoon red pepper flakes 2 tablespoons oil 1 tablespoon hot curry powder 1 teaspoon just cumin powder 1 lb potato , peel and cube 1 -2 teaspoon salt (to taste) 4 ½ cups cabbage , chunks Directions: 1. Soak the chickpeas overnight in water to cover. Drain, recover with fresh water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer covered until very tender. Drain and reserve the cooking liquid. Add enough water to the reserved cooking liquid to equal 2 1/2 cups. 2. Put the onion, garlic, peppers and 1/4 cup of water in a blender and process until smooth. You can always add more pepper in the end, but you can't take it away. 3. Heat the oil over a medium high heat. Put in the onion paste and stir fry for 2-3 minutes. 4. Reduce the heat to medium low, then cover and continue cooking the paste. for another 2-3 minutes. Stir it frequently just to prevent sticking, and keep it covered between stirs. 5. Add the curry powder and the cumin, stir. 6. Add the chickpeas, potatoes, the lesser amount of salt, and the reserved chickpea cooking liquid. 7. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and cover. Cook gently, stirring occasionally until the potatoes are done to your tastes, 20 - 25 minutes. 8. Add in the cabbage and an additional 1/2 - 1 cup of hot water. Bring back to a simmer, cover and cook for an additional 10 - 15 minutes, or until the cabbage is just softened. Do not over cook the cabbage! 9. Taste and adjust the salt/ peppers to your tastes.