Chickpea and tomato stew

Recipe

I am a huge fan of the Iku stores – serving healthy, nutritious macro food with great take away options.

I love their chickpea stew and have finally come up with a version I can make at home. As it is all about the chickpeas so for this recipe it is worth buying really good, dried ones (Ord River produce the best) and reconstituting yourself if you can. The tinned variety work really well too if you don’t have the time.

NB -Start this recipe the night before in order to soak the chickpeas if using dried – or at least first thing in the morning.

Serves 4. V. Vg. DF.GF. Freezes well.

Pictured: Chickpea and tomato stew served with brown rice

1 cup dried chickpeas

1 tbsp light olive oil

4 sticks of celery, chopped

2 small onions, chopped

1 tbsp grated ginger

1 tsp dried chilli flakes

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 x 400g tin tomatoes, diced or whole

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp turmeric

Salt and pepper

Soak the dried chickpeas in a large container of water with a lid and place in the fridge overnight or at least 6 hours. Drain the chickpeas and bring a large pot of water to the boil - do not add salt as this prevents pulses from cooking through – add the chickpeas and simmer 25 minutes. Drain again.

In a casserole pot, warm the oil and add the celery, onion, ginger, garlic and chilli. Stir over low-med heat til onion and celery soften – or turn heat right down and place the lid back and “sweat” the onion mix for 8 minutes or so, stirring every now and then.

Add the chickpeas, tomatoes, cumin and turmeric and bring to the boil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Simmer a little while to develop the flavours and add a little water if it gets a little dry.

Serve with brown rice and a salad or steamed green.