Roasted Chickpea Stew

I was grocery shopping a few days ago and came across a splendid assortment of squash that have just come into season. There were squat little round and big fat ones, stretched ones and twisted ones, fiery orange, mild yellow and rich green ones. A squash to suit every mood or personality. Of course, being a gemini I couldn’t decide what I felt like and ended up taking six of the best looking squash I could find. So I now have six five chubby little squash to explore over the coming weeks. This couldn’t be better because as the air gets a little cooler and the days shorter I’m starting to crave warming foods like soups, stews, and curries and I’m sure all that squash will come in handy…

So first up I made this stew. It’s Ethiopian-inspired but heavily adapted (read: bastardized) to my liking. It’s got roasted chickpeas, winter squash, kale, tomato, lots of ginger, spices and all sorts of other goodies. Apparently in Ethiopia they make it with roasted, ground chickpeas. I love the idea but I like my chickpeas whole so that’s how I used them. And I had a few tablespoons remaining of the spice mix I made recently for the Red Lentil Dahl so I decided to use it for the spice base here.

Oh me oh my, how good were those roasty, golden chickpeas?!? I’ve always loved chickpeas so I’ve never really thought about fancying them up like this, but now I’ve tried it I’m completely sold on the idea. The difference is the same as a roasted cashew versus a raw cashew – the roasted version simply has more depth of flavour. If you’re not currently a fan of chickpeas try roasting them prior to adding them to a meal and you may discover a new favourite ingredient. Enjoy!

Roasted Chickpea Stew Recipe
Nothing beats the flavour that comes from freshly toasted and ground spices. But it can add a bit of time to the preparation so I usually make a double batch of the spice mix below and keep the remainder in an airtight container so that next time I don’t have to start from scratch.

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

2 teaspoons mustard seeds

1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

7 whole cloves

5 cardamom pods

1 teaspoon red chili flakes

¼ teaspoon cinnamon powder

4 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups cooked chickpeas, rinsed and drained (canned is fine)
2 small red onions or 1 large
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons finely grated fresh ginger
1½ cups chopped plum tomatoes (canned is fine)
1 teaspoon fine ground sea salt
4 cups good quality vegetable broth
1½ – 2 lb. / 800g winter squash, peeled, seeded and chopped into 1 inch / 2cm pieces
14oz / 400g kale, stems removed and roughly chopped

Toast the seeds (not the chili or cinnamon) in a skillet / frying pan over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from skillet, cool, and then crush into a fine powder with the chili and cinnamon.

Heat the oven to 400F / 200C. Place the chickpeas and 2 tablespoons oil in a roasting dish, stir to coat the chickpeas and then spread into a single layer. Roast the chickpeas for 15 – 18 minutes, stirring several times, until they are golden brown.


Heat the remaining oil in large stock pot over medium heat, sauté the onions for 3-4 min or until translucent. Add garlic and ginger and sauté another 3-4 minutes. Add spices and salt and sauté 3-4 minutes more.

Add the tomatoes and stir for 2 minutes. Add the vegetable stock, reserved chickpeas and squash. Bring to the boil and then lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes. At this point you can taste the broth and make adjustments for salt.

Add the kale. Simmer 10 minutes more or until kale is soft and wilted.

Makes 6-8 servings.