This is one of my favorite foods since childhood. I used to eagerly wait for Sunday’s on my island of Sifnos, Greece, for the fired ceramic pots filled with the sizzling chickpeas to make it to our lunch table! I never really enjoyed meat growing up, so this was a taste of heaven to me. And still is.
Traditionally this is placed in a wood burning oven and slow cooked all night.
I have made it easy for you to make at home. For for best results, and my preferred way to make it is covered tightly in a clay pot or regular pot with a good strong lid.
The biggest tip I can give you is to set it and forget it and let it alchemize in the oven for six hours at 160 C/320 F. Additionally, another important tip to remember is to add the salt only in the last 30 minutes and not before. If you do, your chick peas will never soften all the way through. And of course, do not to stir at all while it’s in the oven—and only you are ready to serve. If you need to add water mid cook, always add small parts of hot water around the walls of the pot, preserving the alchemy of the process.
Lastly, know that once your chickpeas are out of the oven they will continue to soak up a little bit of the liquid, not much, but you should keep that in mind. See the video for final consistency.
These tips will make, or break your dish.
The stew should be thick and oily too and not dry, and with a lot of creamy onions that have alchemized into a velvety consistency.
Ingredients:
500 grams of chickpeas soaked in water overnight
6 large white onions, finely blended
1 1/2 cups olive oil
1 to 1 1/2 TBS of salt (added at the end of cooking)
Pepper to taste
Enough water to create a soupy consistency like shown in the video.
To Serve:
1-2 TBS of olive oil
Drizzle of lemon or lemon wedges
Watch Video above to make your recipe perfect!
