Moroccan Chickpea Stew
March 1, 2012 § 9 Comments
If you don’t like cumin, step away. You’ve made up your mind about the spice, and no amount of my praising it will change the way your taste buds feel. So, I’ll see you another day, okay?
But you cumin fans, lean in a bit closer—I have something to tell you. This stew … it’s awesome. Awesome as in delicious. Really. Super. Delicious. And it’s all due to the cumin.
It being from Bon Appetit may explain why it’s so delectable. Theirs is a meaty version. I’m sure the addition of chicken thighs is nothing but fabulous. I didn’t have them on hand—plus I’m doing a no-meat kinda thing currently. Still, this rocks with out the cluck factor.
Ingredients
- 4 tbs olive oil, divided
Chickpea Stew ala Bon Appetit
- 2 skinless, boneless chicken thighs—optional
- 1 medium sweet onion, sliced
- Kosher salt
- 3 large garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tbs ground cumin—yes, that much
- 2 tbs tomato paste
- 3/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, rinsed, drained OR 1 lb. dry chickpeas cooked to firm
- 1/2 cup chopped drained roasted red peppers from a jar (I just roasted a whole large red pepper myself)
- 2 tbs (or more) fresh lemon juice
- country-style bread
- 3 tbs coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
-IF you’re going the chicken route, heat 2 tbs of the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt; add to pot and cook, turning once, until browned, 8–10 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
-IF you’re not using chicken, heat 2 tbs of oil to medium low, add onion and garlic, and saute for 5-6 minutes or until onions become translucent. Add cumin, tomato paste and red pepper flakes; stir until a smooth paste forms, about 1 minute.
-IF using chicken, add it back into the pot along with bay leaves and 4 cups water and dislodge any of the brown chicken bits that might be on the bottom of the pot.
-Just a quick note: I used dry chickpeas and cooked them in a pressure cooker with 9 cups water, kosher salt, a celery stalk, a carrot, 2 bay leaves and 3 whole garlic cloves for 28 minutes. When I drained the chickpeas, I reserved the liquid and used that in place of 4 cups water. Mmmmm … more flavor.
-Bring everything in the pot to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, with occasional stirring. IF using chicken, let it simmer until chicken is tender (20 minutes). Sans chicken, 10 minutes is enough to get the flavors to meld.
-Transfer chicken to a plate (if it’s in there). Add chickpeas to pot and bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Shred your chicken off the bone and add it in there. Otherwise, skip it. Add in the red peppers and stir in remaining 2 tbs of oil (but only if you want – you don’t need to).
-Don’t skip this part: Give it a taste. Good, right? Yummy power-packed cumin flavor. Okay, now add in 2 tbs of lemon juice (or about half a lemon). Let it simmer for a minute. Now give it another taste? Better, huh? Yup, that lemon is a major major plus here. Adjust seasonings with salt and maybe more lemon if you think it needs it.
-Serving: Bon Appetit says to cube crusty bread, put it in an individual bowl, and ladle the stew on top. DO NOT even attempt. All you get is soggy bread. Bleck. But DO enjoy a nice slice alongside, dipping it to your liking. Oh, and sprinkle some parsley on top, too.
Good, good stewy stuff. There’s no room for cumin haters here.
The Dainty Dot 
yumma lumma!! So excited for my stewie lunch!!! xoxo
Ugh that looks and sounds amazing.
Thanks! It is pretty darn tasty …
I’ve made this stew sans chicken and it rocks my world. Thanks for posting yummy recipes
It’s the cumin, isn’t it? So good …
I do a chickpea stew that is more indian flavors/tomato. But I gotta try your pressure cooker method. You should do a pressure cooker column. Unlike the slow cooker which can’t go wrong, I seem to have a hard time (or lack of confidence) with pressure cooker basic ratios etc.
Katherine, excellent idea! I’ll do a pressure cooker post soon. Beans are super simple. Meanwhile, I have a cookbook recommendation for you: Pressure Perfect by Lorna Sass. Great basic recipes for beans along with additional stuff you can make with the beans (soup, stew, hummus, etc) plus a chart for cooking times for different types of beans.
And there’s a whole lot of other good stuff in there we haven’t discovered yet, too.
Made this friday night with the chicken, it was awesome, but maybe next time I will do 1/2 chick peas and 1/2 white or cannellini beans? It was really good, but you are right, it’s a lot of cumin, I actually had to buy another little pot of it!
Ooooo! What a maverick you are! I like the idea of 1/2 with another bean. Way to think outside the Dutch oven. So, this recipe caused you to use up all your cumin? Yeah, stock up on it – you’ll be making a lot of it : )