Moroccan Style Chickpeas Stew

Moroccan dishes are hearty because its a mix of several cuisines like Arab,Jewish,African etc.The spices used are commonly cumin,coriander,ginger etc and the typical spice blend is known as Ras al Hanout and the popular hot sauce is 'Harissa '.Ras al hanout is a combination of around 70 spices and harissa paste used also as a sauce or in curries or soups is a combo of dried/smoked spices like coriander,caraway and cumin and chili peppers.I found an easier stew recipe from here with chickpeas and potatoes and few spices but it was deliciously hot and spicy.

Ingredients

ChickPeas/Garbanzo beans/White Chana: 1 cup (presoaked & cooked till soft)
Potato: 1 large
Carrot: 1 big
Onion: 1 big
Veg Broth: (1/2 cup +) OR (water+tomato juice/puree/paste )can be used
Garlic : 1 clove
Jalapeno pepper: 1
Cumin Powder: 2 tsp
Chilli Powder: 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder: 1/2 tsp
Tomatoes: 2+ OR use tomato paste/juice/puree as per taste OR one can of diced tomatoes along with brine.
Salt: as per taste

Preparation:

Presoak 1/2 cup of dry chickpeas and pressure cook till done.Chop the onions,potatoes and carrots into bite sized or small pieces.Mince/crush the garlic.Slit the jalapeno pepper and if needed de seed it.You can also chop it into small pieces unless you do not mind biting into it.I chopped it as it was okwith me.

Heat olive oil in a large pan and add the onion,carrot,garlic and jalapeno to it.Saute on medium for a few minutes till they start to cook.Add potato,tomatoes diced,broth,chickpeas ,salt and the spice powders .Mix well.Bring to a boil.Then let it simmer till the veggies are cooked for about 10-15 minutes or until the required gravy consistency is reached.Serve with rice/breads/couscous.

I did not use the broth nor tomatoes.Instead I added around 1/2 tbsp of tomato paste and tomato juice and the water in which the chickpeas were cooked.This depends upon you.You can also add extra water if needed.Also adjust the chilli powder with jalapeno.Cumin powder is supposed to be more than chilli powder and I did likewise.It was deliciously perfect for me.I served it with rice and also had it as a hearty winter soup.The estimate yields about 4 bowls.

This hot n spicy stew is going to JFI:Chickpeas,an event started by Indira of Mahanandi and currently hosted by MS of SometimeFoodie.

Another warm bowl is going to grace My Legume Love Affair 7th Helping ,an event started by Susan of WellSeasoned cook and currently hosted by Srivalli of Cooking4allseasons.

Update on 15th Jan,2009: The stew is reddish yellow in colour- reddish because of tomato juice and a tinge of yellow because of turmeric.The light here is very dim and the fotos does not do justice to the colour,but this is one of my first entry to FIC:Yellow,hosted by 'subki aunty aur hamari pyaary,Sunshine Mommyji' (PS: She is celebrating her First BlogVersary Today,DO WISH HER :D ).THANKS H,for accepting