Friday, March 20, 2009

Chick peas in red sauce





Chick peas (revithia in Greek) is another delicious vegan plate for the Fasting Period.
Chick
peas are better known by their name "garbanzo beans".
Most are familiar with chick peas as either used whole in salads, or ground up to make the popular Middle Eastern dish "hummus".
They
are also a frequent ingredient in Indian dishes. (India is actually the world leader in chick pea production.)
There are two kinds of chick peas, desi which has small darker seeds and a rough coat, cultivated mostly in the Indian subcontinent, Ethiopia, Mexico and Iran and the kabuli, which has lighter color, larger seeds and a smoother coat and mainly grows in Southern Europe, Northern Africa , Afghanistan and Chile.
Nutritionally, chick peas are an excellent source of fibre and protein and recommended for diabetics.
(Source: Wikipedia)

Ingredients

  • 2 cups of chick peas (soaked in cold water overnight)
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1 pack of tomato juice
  • 1 tbl salt
  • 1/4 glass olive oil
  • 2 large potatoes cut in quarters
  • lemon juice (half lemon)
  • celery, chopped
Method

Put chick peas in a large pot, cover them with cold water and let them cook until they become crunchy.
Add potatoes, onion and celery and let them cook until potatoes become soft (Add more water if needed).
When potatoes are ready, add tomato juice and olive oil and let them cook for 10-15 minutes in medium fire.
Five minutes before taking pot off fire, add lemon juice and salt, stir and let it cook for another 1-2 minutes.
Take pot off fire, let it cool down a bit and serve.

1 comment:

Despina said...

Don't know about the variety you were using but mine took 2.5 hours to cook-and I have soaked them overnight too..Is this normal?? Still, fantastic hearty dish!