Audrey and Jon

Indigo, the Indian food stall at Eastern Market, makes a spectacular chana chaat - basically, a chick-pea/vegetable salad/snack thing.  It's quite frankly delicious.  In anticipation of an Indian dinner party were we hosting, I coaxed the main ingredients out of the very nice woman who does all the cooking at the stall.  While she wouldn't reveal her secret spice blend, some internet reserach gave us enough clues to fill in the holes.

Obviously, this is a very notional recipe and the proportions can be added to suit your taste.  The resulting product shouldn't be soupy, but dressed in the sauce blend as a salad would be.

1 lb dried beans, soaked overnight
1 hamhock
2 hatch peppers, roasted and sliced
bacon grease
pepper, smoked salt

I'm not sure it's possible to really make beans without a hamhock.  I've tried. 

Soak the beans overnight; rinse.  Place back in large pot and cover with water. Bring to a simmer. Add hamhock, bacon grease, and peppers.  Let simmer for as many hours as possible.  Add pepper and smoked salt close to the end to taste.

Adapted from The Bitten Word, adapted from Food & Wine.  We didn't have any Harissa handy, so we improvised.  This salad provides a great, bright and spicy contrast to a tagine dish.

For the salad

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In 2010, we attended a Oaxacan dinner as part of the annual Literary Feast on Capitol Hill. One of the dishes we ate was goat cheese, corn, and bean enchiladas with mole sauce. It was really delicious, and I finally got around to recreating it.

Courtesy of Nan.

I use the recipe that is on Mrs. Wages Pickling Lime container. It can probably be found at the grocery store with the canning good--like jars, lids, etc. You'll need that lime.

Briefly (as can be) I cut them up a tad LESS than 1/4 inch thick into a large non-reactive pot or big bowl--something that will fit in your frig. (with a plate on top you
can put other stuff on top of it).

Mix 1/2 cup lime with a gallon of water and pour over them. If you are doing a huuuuuuge amount in biiiiig bowl you can make more or this. Let this sit in frig overnight.