Recipe Corner: Chickpea Stew 🍛

Greetings denizens of WarEra, hopefully everyone’s having a splendid week. Today I wanted to bring you a simple but slow cooking Chickpea Recipe to go well with whatever side dishes you desire, especially combining well with rice. Chickpeas are perfectly nutritious with healthy carbohydrates and plant-based proteins, alongside being very budget and shelf-life friendly.

Before starting, note that many some legumes, Chickpeas are notoriously hard and dehydrated, so you decide to cook them, put them in a bowl, soak them in water much above the topline and let them rest 8-12 hours. Treat it as necessary prep time before a major war in WarEra.

Ingredients

1 Large water cup of Chickpeas

3 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

1.5 Tablespoons of Tomato Paste

1 Large Onion (or 1.5 teaspoons of onion powder)

Spices & Seasoning

2 Teaspoons of Salt

1.5 Teaspoons of Sweet paprica

1 Teaspoon of Chili flakes

1 Teaspoon of Cumin

1 Teaspoon of Black Pepper

A pinch of Sugar

Instructions

1- Drain all remaining water from bowl chickpeas were soaked in. You don’t want to use that water in your dish. Boil 5.5 cups of fresh water instead. Place chickpeas in a large pot. Add 4 cups of boiling water.

2- Add in the peeled onion in full – don’t dice, it’ll act as a flavor bomb over slow cooking. If you want to use onion powder instead, add it in alongside other spices.

3- In a separate bowl, combine one cup of boiling water, the tomato paste, and all the spices, whisking until the mixture is a clean slurry. Add the paste & spice slurry to the chickpea pot and stir.

4- Turn the heat to medium, close the lid with a small opening for the vapor to escape. Let it cook for 1.5 hours. No need to stir. After 1.5 hours, stir it all, turn the heat low and let it cook for another 30-45 minutes, testing the taste and consistency of chickpeas in the 30-minute mark. Your chickpea stew will be ready for feasting on.

Voila, Bon Appetit! Fair warning, chickpeas are notorious in having some people feel bloated and gassy, en par with beans. If you’re in the vulnerable group, consume in moderation. Eating with some Greek yogurt may help with the bloating.

Pairing tip: Chickpeas go especially well with rice. You can prepare rice as a side dish and serve the chickpeas on top with some of its broth to soak and upgrade the taste profile of the rice. In Turkey it’s commonly paired with white rice, yogurt and chicken for a balanced and nutritious dish. Remember, all great warriors and economists need their plant-proteins and fibers so don’t leave out legumes from your diet.