Syma Habib and The Spiritual Work of Food, Systems Thinking, and Transforming Food Through Salt And Air

Food Stories

In Episode 2 of Season 2 we dive deep into the issues of food security and food dignity with Food Resilience Specialist Syma Habib. Syma works for the Climate Adaptation | Climate & Environment department at The City of Calgary, and has spent her life seeing the connections between food, belonging, and resilience. Check out her thought-provoking Substack newsletter at Whole Systems Healing, and learn more about how she makes connections between the body, the community, and food.

Syma and I discuss the book "Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice" by Rupa Marya and Raj Patel

Here is Syma's recipe for her family's chole. Check out our Instagram page for images of this delicous recipe!

Chole

By Syma Habib

Ingredients

• 1 cup dry chickpeas (washed and picked clean)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 4 cups water

For the Masala:

• 75mL ghee or neutral oil
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 tsp ginger, minced
• 1 tsp garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp chili powder (I like kashmiri)
• 2 tsp coriander powder (I like to grind mine fresh)
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp tamarind chutney
• Salt to taste
• Optional: 1/2 tsp of anardana or amchur - I don't know what they're called in English, but anardana is dried crushed pomegranate and amchur is dry powdered mango

Instructions:

1. Soak chickpeas overnight with water and baking soda
2. Dump the soaked chickpeas with the water you soaked them in a pot. Add a half teaspoon of salt and cook until done. Drain the chickpeas, you'll use them later.
3. Make the masala: brown the onion in the oil until very golden. Add ginger and garlic and soften. Add spices and toast them lightly, then add at least a quarter cup of water, more if needed to create a spice paste. Allow the paste to simmer on the stovetop for 3-4 minutes, then add the chickpeas and more water as needed to create a stew-like consistency (not soup-like!) Simmer on low heat for 15-20 minutes, adding more water if needed.
4. Serve garnished with raw ginger sticks and cilantro leaves, with a good naan or kulcha.