Don't Sweat the Aubergine

fresh mint if you like; when the liquid is simmering, add the peas and cover. If there’s liquid left when the peas are nearly ready, boil it hard, with the lid off, to evaporate, coating the peas in the oil.
    Once picked, peas convert their sugars into starch. Frozen peas, having been refrigerated soon after removal from their pods, are exceptionally sweet. Their sweetness is a bit one-dimensional; there is more depth of flavour in a good fresh pea, and the slight starchiness has its own appeal.
    Nevertheless, frozen peas are the best frozen vegetables. Try them puréed or mushy: add them to boiling water, bring back to the boil and simmer for a couple of minutes, drain, and mash roughly with a potato masher. Over a very low heat, above a heat disperser, stir in butter and salt. (Sorry to be vague about the quantities, but I do feel that you should use your own judgement here.)
Chickpeas
    See Dried beans ( here ). You’ll certainly find it a lot easier to cook chickpeas if you soak them overnight; even after that, some can take 4 hours to soften. Drain them, bring to the boil in fresh water, and simmer; a peeled and halved onion and a couple of cloves of unpeeled garlic in the liquid will do no harm, particularly if you’re going to use this liquid later, perhaps to thin some hummus ( see here ). Cover the pan or, if the boil is too fast and the liquid is in danger of boiling over, leave the lid slightly ajar. The chickpeas are unlikely to be ready in less than 2 hours.
    Bicarbonate of soda in the soaking water and/or in the cooking water will reduce the time it takes to soften the chickpeas – quite dramatically, if you use enough of it. But there is a price to be paid, in loss of nutrients, texture and flavour.
    If I’m in a hurry, I open a can. Canned chickpeas may not have the earthy nuttiness of the dried variety, but are worth eating nonetheless, and make a decent hummus.
HUMMUS
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HOW TO MAKE IT
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    For 4, as a starter
    400g can chickpeas, or 150g dried ones, cooked as above
    1 1/2 tbsp tahini paste
    1 garlic clove, chopped and crushed with some salt
    Juice of 1 lemon
    2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
    Pinch of cayenne pepper or chilli powder
    Salt
    I have come to prefer mashing the chickpeas with a potato masher to blitzing them in a food processor; the purée may be rough, but it has more chickpea flavour. Drain the chickpeas; if using canned ones, rinse them of their briny liquid. Put in a saucepan, and mash. Stir in the other ingredients. Have a taste: you might want more lemon, or salt. If the mixture is too gungey, add some of the liquid in which the chickpeas have cooked; if I’m using canned chickpeas, I pour in a little orange juice as a thinner.
    Or: put the ingredients, minus the olive oil, in a food processor, and blitz. Stir in the oil at the end. Blitzed, it loses its fruitiness – see Mayonnaise, here .
    You could flatten the hummus on a plate, drizzle over a little more olive oil, and dust with paprika.
    Vary these ingredients according to taste. Some people prefer more garlic; some, more lemon. The tahini, a sesame seed paste, is optional. There are brands that are rather cloying . A tablespoon or two of yoghurt will lighten the texture.
    Chickpeas are a nice accompaniment to lamb, as is spinach; and chickpeas and spinach go well together. Cook the chickpeas, and drain them; cook the spinach ( see here ), drain, and chop it. Fry garlic and cumin seeds in oil. Add the chickpeas and spinach, and stir them around to flavour them. A few saffron threads with their soaking liquid would add attractive colour and fragrance; or you could add a little turmeric. For 4: 200g chickpeas, 750g spinach, 1 clove garlic, 1 tsp cumin.
    A more satisfying way to cook this dish would be to add the spinach and the spiced oil to the simmering chickpeas; but, as the chickpeas are sitting in liquid and as the spinach throws out a good deal of water of its own, you’ll end up with a soup rather than with a side dish.
    Or: drain a can of chickpeas, add them with a little water to the fried garlic and cumin, cover the pan, and heat gently to warm through until the liquid evaporates or is absorbed (uncover the pan and turn up the heat to boil away the liquid if there’s too much once the chickpeas are warmed through); add the cooked, drained and chopped spinach. Because of the salt in the chickpea brine, you may not need more.
Lentils
    Lentils are humble things that are a challenge to cook to perfection. The