Spiced Mushroom and Chickpea Stew
I marry a little Indian flavor with this Greek Mushroom Chickpea Stew. Garam Masala is a warm and earthy spice mix originating from Northern India. There are many recipes for this spice mix but most of them consist of cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and peppercorns, cumin, nutmeg. You can make this spice mix at home starting of course with whole spices. If you want a more intense result, you can toast your spices before grinding them. This spice mix has a number of health benefits including: rich in antioxidants, reducing inflammation and can lower blood pressure.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Chickpeas soaked overnight
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin Greek Olive oil
- 2 red onions thinly sliced
- 1 inch ginger peeled and finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 2 green chillies finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp dry turmeric powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp garam masala mix
- 180 g or 6 oz mushrooms sliced
- 1/2 cup tomato puree
- 2 cups spinach washed and finely chopped
- salt to taste
- 1/2 cup Coconut milk
- 3 sprig coriander leaves finely chopped
- 1 sprig mint leaves finely chopped
- rice to serve
Instructions
-
Wash and soak the chickpeas in water with 1 teaspoon of salt for 8 hours or overnight.
-
drain, wash and drain again the legumes and boil them in a pot with boiling water till done. Time depends on the freshness of chickpeas. You can of course buy a can of already cooked chickpeas and just drain, wash and drain them again before using.
-
In a skillet, heat the extra virgin Greek olive oil on medium heat, add the ginger and garlic and saute for about a minute.
-
Next add the onions, and cook them until they brown. This will take about 4-5 minutes.
-
Add the green chilies, turmeric, cumin, garam masala powder, salt and mix well. Then add in the mushrooms and tomato puree, cover and cook until it comes to a boil. Open the lid, add in the spinach leaves and cook on a low heat till the spinach is completely cooked.
-
At the end, add in the coconut milk, the chickpeas and simmer on low for about 5 minutes. Once done, check and season to your taste. Serve hot with coriander and mint leaves over rice.
