Spiced Chickpea Stew with Coconut and Turmeric

So, for the last two weeks I’ve been purchasing an organic fruit and vegetable box from a local green grocer. They travel to farms within a 50 km radius and purchase organic produce, box them up and ship them out to locals (or you can pick it up). I decided to do this for a few reasons, one was I had stopped eating fruit since my eldest son moved out (because he was the fruit eater in the family) and two I thought it would make me try cooking with different vegetable that I don’t usually purchase.

In this weeks box there was a big bunch of spinach and I thought “what am I going to do with this?” especially since I still had a 1/2 bunch of kale from last weeks box. Well, wouldn’t you know the next morning in my inbox was an email from NYTimes Cooking with a recipe attached for spiced chickpeas cooked with a bunch of leafy greens, it could be spinach, kale, silverbeet you name it. Win Win. I have amended the recipe slightly after reading the reviews and it turned out perfectly.

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 thumb sized piece of ginger, finely chopped
salt and black pepper
1 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp red chilli flakes
2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 cans coconut milk
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 bunch leafy greens ie. spinach, kale, silverbeet (stems removed and torn into bite size pieces)

To Serve

Rice or bread
Yoghurt (optional)
Lime
Mint or coriander
Red chilli flakes
Extra olive oil to drizzle

Heat the oil in a large pot over a medium heat. Add garlic, onion and ginger and season with salt and pepper. Cook stirring occasionally until onion is translucent and starts to brown a little on the edges about 5 minutes.

Add turmeric, red chilli flakes and chickpeas, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently so the chickpeas are coated in the spice and onion mixture about 5 minutes. Remove about a cup of chickpeas and set aside to be fried up further for a garnish later on.

Add 1 and 1/2 cans of the coconut milk (remainder can be frozen in a zip lock bag for another day), 1 and 1/2 cups of the stock, reserving the last 1/2 cup incase it is needed later on, to the pot. Bring to the simmer, scraping up any bits that have formed on the bottom of the pot. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the stew has thickened and flavours have developed, 30 – 35 minutes. Don’t rush this step as it takes time for the flavours to infuse the chickpeas.

Add greens and stir as they start to wilt into the stew. Some green will take longer to cook here and that’s why you might need to add the extra stock if the stew is getting too thick. Cook until the greens are tender anywhere between 3 to 10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Fry the reserved chickpeas in a little olive oil until they crisp up and change to a golden colour, it should only take a few minutes.

Divide among bowls and top with herbs, crisped chickpeas, yoghurt (if using), a big squeeze of lime, chilli flakes etc. It makes a filling meal served with rice but is equally delicious with flat bread to mop up the sauce.

Who else reads the reviews or comments on recipes posted online?? It makes me laugh when someone posts that they really enjoyed the recipe but then explain that they substituted most of the ingredients listed for something else. In other words they actually didn’t cook that recipe at all!!