A bookcase in my office had collapsed and it was a good excuse for a spring clean. Lots of old recipes stored and, of all of them, the one I wanted to cook the most was Rukmini Iyer’s recipe from The Guardian for chickpeas, tamarind and cavolo nero. The choice made easy as I happened to have all the ingredients to hand and it was a great dish for a mid week meal.

Tamarind paste is curious. Sweet, sour, reminiscent of Worcestershire sauce (of which tamarind is a key ingredient), hints of anchovy, lemon and Marmite. Use small jars of paste. Rukmini Iyer is very keen to point out that tamarind concentrate should not be substituted for the paste.

The amount of water used very much depends on whether the chickpeas are tinned, from a jar or cooked from dried beans (I prepare chickpeas in batches and store them in the deep freeze).

2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 medium onion, finely sliced
1 tsp chilli flakes
200g cherry tomatoes, halved
350g cooked chickpeas
3 tsp tamarind paste
150g cavolo nero, trimmed and finely sliced
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp dark brown sugar or date syrup
1 tsp tomato paste

Greek yoghurt to serve

Flatbreads, Shana parathas (available online) or rice to serve

For the pickled onion relish:

½ red onion, very finely sliced
Juice of ½ lime
½ tsp sea salt
½ tsp chilli flakes (or Aleppo chillies for a milder flavour)

Start by making the relish. Slice half a red onion very finely and put the slices in a bowl. Cover with boiling water and leave for a minute. Rinse under cold water and pat dry. Put the slices in a small bowl and add the lime juice, chillies and salt. Cover and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the cumin seeds. Cook for 30 seconds on a low heat and then add the onion. Increase the heat to medium and cook the onion for about six minutes or until it starts to turn brown around the edges.

Add the chilli flakes and tomatoes. Stir fry for a few minutes and then add the chickpeas, tamarind paste, salt, sugar, tomato paste and about a wine glass of water. Once the water is bubbling, turn down the heat and let cook for about 20 minutes until the liquids have almost evaporated and are clinging to the chickpeas (tinned chickpeas may take longer and need more water than those from a jar).

Serve on flatbreads or rice with the onion relish on top and yoghurt on the side.

Any leftover onion relish can be used the next day on all sorts of things.