This delicious chickpea stew recipe is a mom-style one. Nothing fancy but always healthy and filling. It will make you call your mom.
Oldest harvested legume
Chickpeas are one of the oldest harvested legumes. Recently, 7,000-7,500-year-old chickpea remains have been found in southeastern Turkey. As chickpeas have been around the world for so long they are easily accessible and low cost. You can buy them in many forms, raw, boiled, canned, pickled, cooked and roasted.
To soak or not to soak?
As usual my recipe is made from scratch. Although canned chickpeas would work just as good, I prefer to use dry chickpeas and soak them in water the night before. Dry chickpeas cost less and have no salt in them. If you choose to go for canned, do not forget to rinse them before adding them to the main pot.
There is a never-ending discussion about to soak or not to soak chickpeas over night. My answer is; it is better to soak in covering water to shorten the cooking time the next day. I enjoy observing how the dry chickpeas double the next morning, sometimes they even make cute popping sounds while growing. Again do not forget to rinse the chickpeas before starting to boil them.
Soaked Chickpeas 
Chickpeas soaked and not
After rinsing, add fresh water again to cover and a teaspoon of salt and bring the water to boil, then reduce the heat to simmer until chickpeas are edible. During this you will see that some unwanted bubbles will come up, skim these with a spoon and discard. Save the water and the chickpeas to join the other ingredients later.
I generally prefer to cook a vegan chickpea stew, as chickpeas have enough nutritions to satisfy everyone. Onions, garlic, tomato paste or tomato is all there is needed to add. For this recipe I have added chopped chicken pieces and slices of sun-dried tomato too.
Are chickpeas good for weight loss?
Chickpeas keep you full for a long time, thanks to the fiber and protein they contain. They do not have too much calories either. However do not forget that chickpeas are legumes and do contain lots of protein besides the vitamins and minerals, so it is best to consume in moderation.
What can I do with chickpeas?
Chickpeas are a real gem, you can make stews, casseroles, soups, sandwiches, wraps, roasts with them. Always good to have them in your pantry. Here are some other recipes you can find here:
What to serve with chickpeas?
I generally serve some carbs, such as a rice pilaf or bulgur pilaf. My household almost always vote for the rice.
Hoping that you will try this delicious and easy recipe. Enjoy
Chickpea Stew
Equipment
- Pressure cooker / optional
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry chickpeas
- 1 teaspoon salt for soaking
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion
- 1 green or red pepper optional
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 chicken breast optional
- 4 sun dried tomatoes
Instructions
- Rinse the chickpeas and cover with luke warm water, add a teaspoon of salt and set aside for about 12 hours.
- Rinse before cooking. Add fresh water to cover. Set to boil
- If uggly foams come up, skim with a spoon.
- Cook until edible.
- Meanwhile heat another pot – preferably a pressure cooker – slightly.
- Add 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the chopped chicken breast pieces and saute to brown them. Adding chicken is optional.
- Add chopped onions and sauté until translucent.
- Then add chopped garlic cloves and sauté for an additional minute.
- Add chopped peppers and mix.
- Add chopped sun dried tomatoes and mix.
- Finally add the tomato past and the spices. Mix until all well blended.
- Then add the boiled chickpeas. Also add its water to cover the bottom of the pressure cooker. If using a normal pot, increase the amount of water.
- Cook until onions and chicken are done.
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