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In the summer, I love to make the sort of meals that can be tossed together in a big bowl and served at room temperature.  

I get cranky in the heat, and it’s better for everyone if I don’t spend much time standing over a hot stove.

It’s better still if, after everything is done, I can step away from the kitchen with a cool drink in my hand and relax for a while before eating.

These yogurt chickpeas with Indian-ish spices are perfect for days like that.

It doesn’t look like much, but it’s something special. It’s fragrant with aromatic spices and creamy from the yogurt sauce.

The chickpeas make it feel substantial but the lemon and fresh herbs keep it light. It’s been a staple in my summer kitchen ever since I first learned about it on Dana’s site back in 2009.

It shares some characteristics with a more traditional chana chaat, and I’m sure it would be delicious with the full chaat treatment with various chutneys and crunchy bits of sev and a sprinkling of chaat masala. But this dish is meant to be doable on a weeknight for people who don’t have access to an Indian grocery store. (But if you want to go all out, by all means, do so!)

It’s incredibly simple to throw together. A kicky blend of brown mustard seeds and cumin and fennel seeds get heated with some coconut oil to make a spice infused oil.

(Basically, a tadka, which is an excellent technique for getting more flavor from your spices.)

Then the oil and spices get poured over a waiting bowl of chickpeas. Some cooling yogurt and a squeeze of lemon juice go in next, and then the whole thing gets topped with a flurry of sliced green onions and mint.

I usually serve this with some fragrant basmati rice, but it’s also great on it’s own or with some naan or tucked into baked sweet potatoes or as a component alongside other Indian-inspired dishes, like these curried sweet potato latkes.

I’ve done some variations on this, sometimes adding cucumber slices or tender leafy greens like spinach. I sometimes add cilantro along with or instead of the mint.

I usually use scallions, but because I had some milder green spring onions on hand I used those this time.

I like it best with coconut oil, but I’ve also enjoyed it with peanut oil and canola oil and safflower oil, and although I’ve never used it in this, I’m sure ghee would also be delicious here.

Don’t use olive oil in this one. As much as I love it, the flavor is all wrong for this dish.

And it holds up well for leftovers, which makes it a great make-ahead lunch or dinner for later in the week.

It’s an incredibly flexible dish with a great reward to effort ratio.

And, even better, it can wait patiently on the kitchen counter while you pour yourself a cold drink.