Thursday, January 15, 2009

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

24 Comments:

Uma said...

mmm. the stew looks so delicious and mouth-watering. Nice entry. Happy Sankranthi!

Usha said...

Looks delicious, I just posted the fassoulatha soup that I tried from your site, just wanted to let you know ....

Yasmeen said...

Hearty stew,even I had chickpeas for lunch today:)

anudivya said...

I love the last pic, the stew and rice presentation. Lovely.

Deepthi Shankar said...

I too made this last week in a lil different way, its really yummy

Cham said...

If u serve with couscous you gonna love it for sure. I ve my version but this one is quiet different veggie!
Happy Pongal :)

Anonymous said...

Its a mouthwatering stew...even i have some chickpeas today..btw,your photograph is tempting as always

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

nice pic CL. never tasted moroccan food. :) but looks yummy.. i haven't been experimenting on other cuisines lately. have to try this.

Sunshinemom said...

I can imagine how this tastes - Ummm... lip smacking! Amazing how chickpeas have been used differently in so many cuisines across the world!!

Yeh aapko peela nahi lag raha hai kya?? I was wondering why it has not been linked to FIC - hope you are going to let it grace my event too! Cookies bhi kha lenge - yeh pet nahi, bottomless pit hai!!

Sum Raj said...

dish looks yummy..hope it would also be better with palappam..

Priya Suresh said...

Lovely n delicious Chickpeas stew...am a great fan of Moroccan dishes, this is too prefect for me...

Unknown said...

yummy picture....must ve tasted great...

soma said...

Healthy & delicious.. one of the best soups I have ever tasted.
Soma(www.ecurry.com)

Finla said...

Yummy yummy morocan stew.
I love this, sometimes we eat them with couscous.

Jude said...

Love hearty stuff like this. Ras el Hanout is also definitely one of my favorite spice blends.

Vijitha said...

Yum!yum!yummy! looks delicous!

Nithya Praveen said...

Ummmmm...a nice entry for JFI Chickpea.The last snap with rice n chicpeas together is really good.

Raaga said...

My friend made this for me... Chickpea Tagine :-) I love it

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

Chickpeas anyhting and I'm game for it. :)
This sounds lovely, and I have some chickpeas in the freezer, so I'll be giving this a go.

lubnakarim06 said...

Wow luscious and delicious looking stew...

Adlak's tiny world said...

lovely pics and tasty stew... can i have some...

Sunanda said...

I looks yummy...I like the way chickpeas have been used.

ms said...

Hi sweatha,
thanks for the lovely entry for JFI Chickpea. I am new to morroccan food, but i guess I will just have to try it!
best,
ms

Srivalli said...

Looks yummy..thanks for the entry...

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