Cooking in Quarantine #2: Chickpea Stew with Spinach

Chickpeas. Known by different names such as gram or Bengal gram, garbanzo or garbanzo bean, Egyptian pea, Chana, and Chole, they are filled with protein and can be cooked in many different ways. Such as in cold salads, soups, stews, etc. One of the first names ever given to the grain, was chiche pease, from Middle French, pois chiche. In Old Spanish, It was named garbanzo and has been kept that way. In English it was named garvance during the 17th century. But after many years, it finally came to be known in English as chickpea. Chickpeas date back all the way to late Neolithic (about 3500 BC) in Greece. You can read more about the chickpea where I researched it, on revolvy.com

Today we will make the ancient legume in a stew accompanied by spinach.

• Chickpeas
• Chopped onions (As many chopped onions as you want.)
• Chopped garlic
• Ground Pepper
• Salt
• Spinach
• Achiote Powder
• Cumin Powder

Attention

Leave chickpeas in water for 12 hours before the day your expecting to cook them. Don’t put salt when boiling the chickpeas. Don’t use canned spinach, try to use fresh spinach. Depending on how much chickpeas your making, you will need to calculate how much water you’ll be using and how much spice you’ll be using.

Procedure

Step 1: Wash your hands and clean your working space.

Step 2: Get a pot and fill it up with water and leave it to heat up.

Step 3: While your water is heating up, drain and rinse the soaked chickpeas out of the water you left over night, and proceed to put them in the pot covered by fresh water. When you see bubbles starting to develop at the bottom of the pot.

Step 4: Leave the chickpeas to simmer for an hour and a half. Move them every 10 minutes to make sure they don’t stick to the bottom. Add more water if necessary.

Step 5: After they’re done cooking, proceed to take a take a stock pot where we will cook the whole stew. Heat some olive oil or vegetable oil in the pot to medium low. Then proceed to put your chopped up garlic to simmer for about 3 minutes then proceed to put the chopped onion. Constantly move them until the onions are golden.

Step 6: Then add a hint of ground pepper, salt and the amount of spinach you’ll be using. Cook it and move it constantly.

Step 7: While cooking your spinach, add Achiote powder and Cumin powder and let it cook for 10 minutes.

Step 8: When done cooking your spinach, add your Chickpeas and the water it boiled in to add it’s juice and leave to cook for about 15 more minutes.

Step 9: Serve and Enjoy