Chickpeas are just so wonderful, don’t you think?  Whether you use them to make hummus, to add texture to salads, make into patties or falafels they are just so versatile.  Nutty and cooked a little al dente, they are so very satisfying. My Instant Pot Persian Chickpea Stew is my latest food crush.

A few years ago now, a group of my girlfriends and I made our way to Mildred’s restaurant for a catch-up and some seriously good food, and both were delivered in spades!  I still daydream about the mac’n’cheese (plus the copious amount of wine we consumed there before heading off for cocktails lol).

If you don’t know, Mildred’s is a vegan and vegetarian restaurant with a few branches in London and today’s recipe is my version of one of their recipes, made very easily in the [easyazon_link identifier=”B00OP26T4K” locale=”UK” tag=”evnocr-21″]Instant Pot[/easyazon_link].  Their latest book is full of tasty veggie recipes and I really do recommend it.

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This dish appealed to me straight away because it is something a little different in the flavour stakes, thanks to the inclusion of a new ingredient in my storecupboard. Dried lime powder – I get mine online or when I’m in Borough Market from Spice Mountain. This typically Middle Eastern ingredient would usually be added to stews dried but whole to scent the dish with a really delicious smoky lime flavour, but it was easier to get the powder than to search out whole dried limes where I live.

The spices are all old familiars in my cooking but the way they are combined in this chickpea stew is something new and exciting. Fennel, cumin, coriander and turmeric all sing once you add the harissa paste and lime, they really do come alive. Perfect really as we in the Northern hemisphere start bringing out our boots and bobble hats, as the days shorten and get cooler. Not much of a hardship after the crazy heatwaves we’ve seen this summer.

This stew is plenty filling as it comes, thanks to the addition of cubes of potato and chunks of carrot. If you are gluten free, you’re sorted for a one pot meal.  If, however, like me and Hungry Hubby you like to have all the carbs in one meal, then serve it with rice or steam some couscous or bulgar wheat, which all soak up the stew juices beautifully. Or if you have some of my Wholemeal Pitta Bread, then toast, split and stuff (the pitta first, then you can stuff your face!).

To make it so that you can cook all the elements of the stew at once, what I do is presoak my dried chickpeas for a minimum for 4 hours. On days I am home, this is no problem but you could certainly soak them before work to cook on your return home, or before bed to cook in the morning. Whatever fits in with your natural daily rhythm.

This is a great recipe for batch cooking though, and it freezes well so you could always make it on a day when you have plenty of time and freeze it in bags for future speedy lunches or dinners. Let’s get cooking!

Yield: 4

Instant Pot Persian Chickpea Stew

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A spiced and fragrant chickpea, potato and carrot stew. Vegan and deliciously filling plus so easy to make in your Instant Pot.

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 100g dried chickpeas soaked in plenty of cold water for a minimum of 4 hours (1/2 cup)
• 3-4 medium sized carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
• 2-3 large waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into 1.5 inch chunks
• Oil spray
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 - 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp dried lime powder
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 can chopped tomatoes (14 oz approx)
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• 1-2 tbsp harissa to taste
• Fresh parsley or coriander to season

Instructions

1. Preheat your Instant Pot on sauté mode and spray liberally with oil spray.
2. Add the onion and cook for a couple of minutes to soften, stirring regularly and then add the spices. Stir very well then add the tomato purée and canned tomatoes. Add 1/2 can worth of water from the empty tomato can.
3. Drain your pre-soaked chickpeas and add them to the pot with the carrots and potatoes. Crumble in the stock cube and stir very well and poke the veg down into the liquid.
4. Put the lid on, close the valve, cancel Sauté mode then cook on Manual High for 10 minutes and when the alarm sounds, do a QPR (Quick Pressure Release).
5. Stir well, taste for seasoning and add your harissa to taste. Sprinkle with your choice of herbs and serve.

Notes

• For Slimming World readers - this is a Syn Free meal if you omit the harissa, which is usually only 1 Syn per tbsp but do always use Syns online to check your values yourself. If using 2 tbsp, this is only 1/2 a Syn per serving.
• This blog and recipe is in no way affiliated with Slimming World. Always check ingredients yourself against official Slimming World guidelines to see if they have Syn values or not.
• Recipe adapted from Mildred's Vegan Cookbook.

This post contains affiliate links, meaning I will earn a little commission if you chose to buy items I’ve advertised, helping me to bring you all these recipes for free!

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