Chickpea Stew

Sylvia Ali's Note:

This is a variation of Ratatouille.

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 2 (5 ounce) cans chickpeas
• 1 small eggplant (aubergine)
• 1 -2 sweet pepper (yellow, orange or green)
• 2 zucchini (or other summer squash)
• 2 (5 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes
• 1 small onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon cayenne
• 1 -2 teaspoon basil
• salt
• olive oil

Directions:

1. Sauté the spices for about 1 minute in 2 tablespoons of olive oil; then add chopped onion, peppers and garlic.
2. Add sliced zucchini and more oil if needed.
3. Add diced eggplant.
4. At this point you will probably need to add more oil, since the eggplant absorbs a lot of it.
5. When all is sautéed, add chickpeas but do not drain the liquid and tomatoes.
6. Basil can be added at the last minute before serving over steamed rice.
7. These ingredients can be varied according to your taste and imagination.
8. I have tried many variations, such as adding sweet potatoes, other spices and substituting 1 10-oz can black beans for 1 10-oz can of chickpeas.
9. Have fun and let me know your ideas and additions.

Reviews

[Carol Bullock]

I prepared this dish with organic veggies and - well, WOW!! Very flavorful and satiating.

[East Coast Student]

This was very delicious and filling. I basically added the required ingredients although usually in alternate proportions for instance my aubergine was quite large, I used two cans each of 14 oz chickpeas and tomatoes (and mine were diced, not stewed) and I added extra spices to compensate for the excess volume. I didn't drain the chickpeas as suggested, although it did end up a bit more watery than I would have liked so I used a slotted spoon to get out all of the good stuff because I was impatient and didn't want to wait for it to all simmer down. But the flavour and spice mix were phenomenal. Thanks for the recipe!