Sunday, May 24, 2009

Chickpea & Peanut Butter Vegetable Stew


I felt like having chickpeas so I started soaking them in water yesterday and as I was cooking them this morning, I hunted for something new to do with them, and I found this.

I modified the recipe a bit and made long grain rice garnished with thinly sliced leeks and toasted coconut flakes.

Ingredients

2 Cups Cooked Chickpeas

1/4 Large Onion (chopped finely)

1 Celery (chopped finely)

4 Garlic (I used the garlic press)

1 Little Fresh Red Chili Pepper

1 Chicken Bouillon

4 - 5 Tbsp Peanut Butter

5 Tomatoes (from a can and the liquid that was in the can)

1 Tsp Cumin

1 Tsp Coriander

1 Tsp Turmeric

1 Medium Sized Potato (diced)

1/2 Red Bell Pepper (diced)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Step 1: Chop the celery and onions finely and cook until soft in a pan with extra virgin olive oil.

Step 2: Add the spices and stir a bit, then add all the vegetables and cook for a few minutes.

Step 3: Add all the other ingredients. Add extra water if necessary to make a stew like consistency.

Step 4: Bring to a boil and simmer for at least 15 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked.

Step 5: Serve with freshly cooked rice (I used long grain) garnished with a liberal sprinkling of toasted coconut flakes and thinly sliced leeks.

I used chicken bouillon because we're not vegetarian. If you don't like peanut butter this might be a nightmare, but if you do, the combination of the sweetness from the peanut butter and fresh red chili marry very well. I'd definitely make it again.

9 comments:

Dewi said...

Peanut butter vegetable stew sound so delicious Murasaki. It is also truly unique to me.

Dorte said...

This dish looks so delicious ... and I like peanut butter used the way it is used in your recipe :-)
Sandwiches with peanut butter is not my cup of tea.

NKP said...

I do love peanut butter, this stew looks delicious!

Trish said...

I like this post for sure! Love chickpeas!! And the way you arranged the dish is beautiful! Yep...this is a great vegetarian dish with alllllll that you need in one serving! Perfect.

Lori said...

This is my kind of stew because I love chickpeas! Add peanut butter and I am sold. Thanks for posting this recipe!

Justin said...

i'm a big peanut butter fan, so i'm curious about the flavors of this dish. sounds interesting.

Murasaki Shikibu said...

Elra: I first read about putting peanut butter in a stew in a TCK forum. Somebody who grew-up on the African continent mentioned it I think. :)

Dorte: When I have peanut butter on toast, I insist there's a liberal dose of honey to go with it - but I've noticed some of my European friends have a horror of it. ;)

Natashya: My brains are totally fried...was it on your blog that I saw some version of a peanut butter stew? I was going to follow that recipe, then I got lost in cyber space war and with it came memory loss...then I had some chickpeas and found this. :)

Trish: You're so nice as usual. What would I do without you? ;)

Lori: I love both ingredients too. :)

Justin: The key is to not be afraid of putting in too much chili. In fact without the chili I'm not sure it would taste too great. :)

Marta said...

This sounds so DELICIOUS! It just looks so comforting and satisfying! I love peanut butter and chickpeas, so this looks perfect for me :)
1 can is about 400gr of chickepeas ;)

Murasaki Shikibu said...

Marta: Thanks for the information. As you can see, I've posted/linked to your blog because the idea of using pureed chickpeas in baking was very interesting! ;)