Part 6: Chickpeas, the little black dress of your kitchen

They just keep coming, the chic pea recipes, from the European continent, North Africa and half of the Asian landmass to boot. Then there's Mexico. Everybody loves their garbanzos, ceci, pois chiche, Kabuli chana, chickpeas.  Here are more worldly ways--with many more to come in parts 7 and 8.

Moroccan Harira

This is a beloved, home-cooking Moroccan stew of meat with chickpeas, lentils and a pile of greens. It goes down so easily it's often made to break Ramadan's daylong fast. It's astonishingly hearty. It's radically simple too: you just put everything in the pot and cook it until voila!
serves 6

1 lb stewing lamb or beef cut into 1" cubes
2 tsp ground cumin
1 lg onion, diced
1 lg bunch fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 bunch flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
2 celery stalks with leaves, diced
1 tbsp ground turmeric
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground caraway seeds
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground coriander
1 can cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 c green lentils
1 qt beef broth
1 qt water
1 tsp salt or more to your taste
Freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3 c all purpose flour
1 c tomato paste
1/2 tsp harissa (this is the local hot sauce)
1 1/2 c water

The last four items are for the "roux" that will thicken the stew at the end. Combine them in a bowl or cup with a pouring spout and whisk together until smooth. Set aside.

Lightly coat the bottom of a large heavy gauge casserole with olive oil and heat it over medium flame. Add the meat and cumin and sauté 3-5 minutes to brown the meat. Toss in the onions and stir. Add 1/2 of the cilantro, all the parsley, celery, turmeric, ginger, black pepper, nutmeg, coriander, 1 tsp of caraway, chickpeas, lentils, broth and water. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer 1 hour. Strain off the foam at the top.

Slowly pour in the tomato mixture, stirring to blend. Add salt and the remaining caraway plus a little more black pepper. If the stew looks like the liquid is drying up too soon, add another 1/2 c water or broth. Simmer 30 minutes. Strain off the foam at the top.

Ladle into bowls. Squirt with lemon juice, add chopped cilantro and serve with fresh dates and flatbread. (I sometimes cut the dates up at serving time and throw them in the soup bowls.)








English Parsnip Chickpea Soup with Cream and Saffron

Another ridiculously easy chickpea treasure, perfect for right now when parsnips are piled high at farmers' markets. This is a cream soup you can serve in mugs as you see here.
Serves 4

1 lb parsnips, peeled and cut into thin disks
3 c chicken or vegetable broth
1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to your taste
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp milk
good pinch of saffron threads
1/2 c heavy cream
3 tbsp fresh chives, snipped into bits, to serve

Combine the parsnips and broth in a large saucepan and bring to a boil, Cook until the parsnips are tender, 8-10 minutes. While they cook, crush the saffron threads and soak them in the milk.
   Add the chickpeas to the parsnips and cook 2-3 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper and cumin. Puree the contents of the saucepan and return the puree to the pan. Add the saffron milk and cook over med/low heat 2-3 minutes. Stir in the cream, have heat on simmer only and heat through for 5 minutes.
  Serve with the chopped chives on top.

Pasta e Ceci, a Roman classic
Easy, tasty, cheap and comforting.
Serves 4 when a main dish follows

1 med carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 med celery stalk, finely diced
1 med onion, peeled and finely diced
1/4 c + 1 tbsp best quality olive oil you have
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp dried rosemary leaves
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 c vegetable or chicken broth
any piece of a Parmesan rind**
1/2 lb small tubular pasta (dried not fresh)
To Serve: grated Parmesan cheese

In a large heavy saucepan, heat the olive oil, then add the carrot, celery and onion and sauté until they are soft and translucent, 8-10 minutes. Add the tomato paste, Parmesan rind, red pepper flakes and rosemary leaves, stirring to blend. Add about 2/3 of the chickpeas and stir them in. Add the broth, which should cover everything, bring to a boil, immediately reduce heat to simmer and cook 20 minutes.

Boil the pasta according to package instructions until it is al dente.  Drain, keeping 1 tbsp of the water.

Using an immersion blender, a mouli grinder or a food processor, turn the contents of the chickpea saucepan into a smooth thickish soup. Return it to the pan, add the remaining chickpeas. Season to your taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir in the cooked pasta with that 1 tbsp of cooking water. Let this all sit for 5 minutes. Serve with freshly grated cheese and a dollop of your best olive oil.

Chickpea Chaat
This can be made with sea vegetables instead of thin asparagus.

1/4 c rapeseed or mustard or Canola oil
1 1/4 lbs new potatoes, peeled and diced
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 lb thin asparagus or sea vegetable, cut into 1" lengths
1/2 lemon
For the Spice:
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp amchur (ground mango powder)
1/2 tsp ground ginger
salt to your taste
1/4 tsp chili powder
freshly ground black pepper

Combine all the spices in a small bowl.
In a large lidded frying or saute pan, heat 2 tbsp oil (make sure it is enough to cover the pan) on medium heat. Fry the potatoes 15 minutes until they are crisp outside and tender inside, stirring from time to time. Put them in a large serving bowl.

Add another tbsp of oil to the hot pan, turn the heat to high and fry the chickpeas 3-5 minutes, until they start to brown. Bring a medium saucepan with enough water to cover the asparagus/sea vegetable to a boil. Add the asparagus/sea vegetable and blanch 2 minutes. Drain.

Add the potatoes to the chickpeas in the pan. Stir in the asparagus/sea vegetable. Stir in the spice mixture, drizzle on a tbsp of oil and squirt in the lemon juice.

Serve with bread and yogurt.

COMING NEXT PART; Lebanese hummus with spiced lamb, Sicilian chickpea soup, Arroz al horno from Valencia, Spain; and more!