I love chickpeas, but I usually make houmous because it’s something both my husband and I love. This time I’ve decided to make a stew with some roasted peppers I already had. For this chickpeas and peppers stew I’ve used brown chickpeas, dried. After reading a lot on how to prepare the dried chickpeas I tried a few different ways to boil them and I finally discovered the best way. The chickpeas will take only 30 minutes to 1 hour to boil, if they are prepared the night before, and that takes only 1 minute to do. I think it’s well worth the bother to do that.
The dish is so good that I’ll make it again and again. The stew is made with only 3 main ingredients. It’s also vegan, low in fat and healthy.

Ingredients for 2 servings:
– 150g dried chickpeas
– 2tsp of bicarbonate of soda
– 4 green peppers
– 1 can of plum tomatoes
– 3 spoons of oil
– salt
– black pepper
– garlic powder

This method can be used to prepare the chickpeas for this stew or any other recipe you might need them for. Wash the chickpeas and put them in a large bowl with a lot of water. Add a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda and stir. Leave the chickpeas to soak overnight or for 8-9 hours. Wash the chickpeas and put them in the sauce pan to boil. Add enough water and another teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda and stir. Bring to boil, then leave the chickpeas to boil over medium heat for 30 minutes. Check to see if the chickpeas are boiled, if not, leave them on the hob until they are ready.
I weight in the chickpeas and, after the overnight soak, they were 300g, so they actually doubled in weight. After boiling, the chickpeas were 360g. If you don’t have bicarbonate of soda, leave the chickpeas in plain water. It will take a little longer to cook, but the overnight soak will help a lot.

Wash the peppers and put them on a baking paper in the oven at 200C or 180C fan. Leave them for an hour or so, turning them midway through. When the peppers are ready, remove them from the oven and leave them to cool down. When the peppers are cold, remove the skin with your hands. Cut the peppers in strips.
In a frying pan, heat the oil and toss in the peppers. Add the chickpeas and the condiments and stir. In a bowl, crush the plum tomatoes with a fork and pour it over the vegetables. Stir from time to time and leave the stew on the hob for 10 minutes.
Taste and add more spices if you think it’s necessary.

The pulses and peppers stew is ready to be enjoyed. It can be served with bread, polenta or on its own. It’s really delicious.