Alison Roman's Internet-Famous Chickpea Stew | NYT Cooking

when a soup becomes a

stew

, it's a beautiful story. I can't wait to show you that I'm Allison Roman and I'm making a coconut-turmeric-spiced

chickpea

stew

. This is also affectionately known as hashtag stew and it is definitely one of my most popular recipes people love to cook stew, it is truly a delight for all seasons. Part of the reason I think it's been so popular is because you make it primarily with pantry staples. I love garlic. I love ginger. coconut milk I love a lot of dark green leafy herbs I'm obsessed with

chickpea

s so I feel like the stew really has it all the base of this recipe is chickpeas before we cook them we're going to cook our ginger, onion and our garlic together and a little olive oil in a pot and basically what that does is it releases the aromatics and softens the vegetables and gives our chickpeas something really tasty to cook with and you don't want two big chunks because they should permeate the entire stew.

You want them to be evenly distributed, the larger pieces will stay large and not break down further in the stew, so you won't have to make a paste or anything, but I like to finely chop both the garlic and ginger and I'm not going to peel my ginger. You can peel it if you want. You can not force me. I feel like it doesn't matter. The shell on the outside is so thin that you honestly won't know it's there. The easiest way to cut ginger is to chop it. I think it's the most efficient and onion you just have to make sure the pieces aren't too big, they don't have to be as small as ginger or ginger. garlic, but you don't want noticeably large pieces.

I'm going to start by

cooking

my ginger, my garlic, and my onions in a pot. I like to use a large dutch oven and usually prefer enameled cast iron because I feel like you. It sticks less that way I also prefer a light color inside the pot just because that way I feel like I can see everything better while it's browning and

cooking

, but that's a personal preference. Chickpeas love olive oil, so don't be afraid to use it. a little bit more just to give them a little bit more love and just to start, I'm going to add all these friends in there and season as always with salt and pepper.

This is kind of a basic basic recipe that I feel is just absolutely perfect to modify, make your own and adapt it, if you're a big fan of aromatics then this would be a good time to add more things. People have told me they added celery, carrots and sweet potatoes. I could go on, not only will I know that you can add more things, but this is the stage where your vegetables soften, we're not looking for them to brown too much because remember they will continue to cook when we add the chickpeas, so you really want them to soften, you want that give flavor to the oil that the chickpeas are going to be cooked in, so you know no, this won't last too long, this recipe was created to use canned chickpeas, but if you're the type of person that doesn't use canned chickpeas, just I soak and cook mine, so that's fine too, but you should know that they need to be cooked before including them in this recipe, you can't start. with dried and soaked chickpeas or beans, so I love canned chickpeas and I'm not afraid to say it.

I always rinse my chickpeas after draining them, they are stored in this liquid which is very slimy and I think it has a strange taste. Many people are obsessed with crispy chickpeas. You know, I've heard a lot of people say, "Oh, I took the chickpeas and then I dried them to make them crispy and that's fine, you can go to town and do whatever you need." I'm not going to do that, I don't feel the need to towel dry them. The extremely spoiled chickpeas were each hand dried with a small towel, so we're almost there. You can see that the onion is becoming quite translucent.

Things are really sizzling there. It smells amazing, so these chickpeas are going to go in, they're also going to get a little bit of salt and pepper and now it's time that we're also going to add our spices that make this spicy. I'm going to add crushed red chili flakes because I like to be spicy, I feel like I say it a thousand times and then turmeric. I'm using ground and dried turmeric and the reason I do it is because it's a pantry staple at least for me and I think it should be for you. Also, the great thing about cooking with turmeric is that a little really goes a long way and that amount will not only give everything a really nice flavor, but it will also give everything this beautiful neon electric gold color.

I'm going to stop touching them. chickpeas, as much as I love to complain, I'm not going to complain and I'm just going to let the ones on the bottom get a little crispy and worn around the edges, so I'm just going to let them sit here for five to five. About seven minutes, but don't worry, I'll show you what they should look like when they're there. This stage, which is not only browning them on the outside, but also helping them start to break down, is actually very important, so if you see them. and it looks like they're getting a little softer or crumbling or sticking together that's totally fine it's natural it's great hopefully you don't panic I'm going to pull out some of these chickpeas so we can use them to decorate later they're not meant to be be like crunchy chickpeas like bar snacks, they just need to be whole and a little worn and curled and hold their shape at the end so that when you sprinkle them on top they give you something to eat.

I eat a creamy bowl of deliciousness in the meantime, when I open my coconut milk I use full fat coconut milk, there is no other coconut milk in my opinion, you showed me a can of light coconut milk, I don't even see it. I don't even know what you're talking about, I haven't even heard of it, it doesn't exist, this is really good, I shook them before to prevent grease separation, but if you open the can and there's a layer of grease and a layer. of solids, that's fine too, just once it's added to the pot it will completely come together and emulsify and as I add that liquid I really want to pay attention to scrape up all those bits on the bottom that have formed . like our ginger, our garlic, the chickpeas that have started to crumble and fall apart and all of that will go back into the liquid, it will flavor it and it will also thicken our stew and then I'll add two cups of broth, a can is a little less than two cups, so I'm going to fill it up and then add a splash.

If you're worried about this being vegetarian or vegan, you can go ahead and use chicken stock or chicken broth. It will be great that way too. all our liquid is there. I'm going to go ahead and season it again with salt and pepper and then let this come to a simmer because right now, yeah, it's a little thick, I'm not going to lie, but after it comes to a simmer. It will thicken and turn into a stew and I'll go, let it simmer for about 30 to 35 minutes. I can stop by every once in a while and give it a quick stir making sure nothing sticks to the bottom and making sure it doesn't bubble furiously.

I just want to keep an eye on it, I wouldn't want to run to the store right now, but you know, if you're in the other room, that should be great. Another place you can modify this recipe and make it your own is by choosing the types of vegetables. What do you like best, I like to use kale and chard because I think they are the most hearty and they also wilt very well and also hold their shape, they hold up to stew, something like spinach is good, but I find it like it disappears into the casserole, it's like a whisper of spinach and I love leafy greens and I really want to try them, I want to see them, I want to eat them, so I prefer something a little more substantial like These mustard greens are also amazing and whenever you use leafy greens dark green leaves like for this preparation, I remove the stem.

You can save these stems. You can cut them and add them to the herbs. They make a really nice green sauce. I have to throw them away. I eat them. I think they're great, but they don't belong in our stew. You just want to make sure they are small pieces. You don't have to cut them with a knife. or anything just plucking them with your hands is fine, well, it's the moment we've all been waiting for when the soup has turned into a stew it's thick, it's glossy, it's rich, it has a stew-like texture and appearance, no you're looking for a puree stews are still a liquid it should still be something you can eat with a spoon and eat a lot without being like oh my god I just ate chickpea pasta if for whatever reason in that first chickpea cooking you feel like your chickpeas didn't break down enough now would be a really good time to take the back of your spoon and just lightly mash any chickpeas that you think need to be mashed.

I really enjoy the broken pieces along with the whole pieces, but just You know if it still feels too watery at this point, doing so and simmering it for another five to ten minutes will help thicken the stew, but for me this is absolutely perfect, this is also the stage like you're going to Do this ahead of time. I would stop here and when you're ready to eat it, that's when you add the vegetables. In my opinion, these do not keep well. I feel like this is something you want to add when you're ready. Eat them, just press them in there.

I like it when they still look very bright green and somewhat fresh. Once they're all submerged, I'll let them cook for a minute or two just to make sure they're okay. I met the stew, they know each other well, there's no awkward silence there, but that's it, that's the stew and that's the stew, that's my new catchphrase and that's the stew, so I think the only important part of to plate the stew is to prepare it. Make sure you have enough chickpeas and enough vegetables and enough things like broth in a full bowl. This is delicious as is and on its own, but when you top it with things that add texture and different flavors, herbs and more spices, then it becomes. something really exciting, you can top it with a little bit of yogurt, a little bit more chickpeas, a little bit of mint, which I call ferment in the recipe because I love ginger, garlic, mint and yogurt.

Some people prefer cilantro if that's really your thing or if that's what you have a great parsley that works too and then if you want a little more chili flakes sometimes I just dip my spoon in the turmeric and sprinkle it over a very technical technique and then I finish with a little bit of olive oil and whatever yogurt I have. What I'm using is a full fat Greek yogurt that is very tangy, but if you feel like your yogurt isn't that tangy or you just miss that tartness anyway, I encourage you to use a squeeze of lime or lemon or something like that to finish your stew too and that's the stew um yeah that's the stew there she is it's really good I gotta say if you haven't made a stew then that's the stew and hopefully that got you excited to make it.

I did it, I thank you for that, I appreciate you, the stew appreciates you and if you like it, there's more where that came from in the New York Times cooking for you.