Mhamsa - Spicy Chickpeas with homemade cooked chickpeas and homemade vegetable stock

👨‍🍳 Method

For the homemade cooked chickpeas ✓ Homemade · or skip – back to store-bought

1. 1
   Soak the chickpeas overnight in plenty of cold water.

   Bowl

   💡Soak in plenty of water, well above what's being soaked: legumes and grains swell and drink water, and whatever sticks out stays hard. Drain well before continuing.
2. 2
   Drain, cover with plenty of unsalted water and cook 1.5–2 hours, skimming off the foam and skins from time to time, until the chickpeas are very soft and crush easily between your fingers.

   ColanderStovePot

   💡Fully cooked chickpeas crush between your fingers with no resistance at all. Chickpeas that stay a little firm make a grainy spread, and no amount of tahini will fix it.
3. 3
   Drain, reserving a cup of the cooking liquid.

   Colander

For the Fried onion

1. 4
   Heat the olive oil in a pot over medium heat.

   StovePot
2. 5
   Add the onion and fry 5–8 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft and translucent and starts to turn golden at the edges. If it browns too fast, lower the heat.

   Stove

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
3. 6
   Add the garlic and fry about 30 seconds to 1 minute, just until fragrant. Don't let the garlic brown.

   Stove

   💡Garlic burns quickly and turns bitter. Add it only after the onion has softened, over medium heat, and add the next ingredient as soon as it smells fragrant.

To assemble

1. 7
   Sprinkle in the turmeric, cumin, hot paprika and chili pepper and stir for 30 seconds to a minute, until fragrant.
2. 8
   Add the tomatoes and cook 10 minutes, stirring, until the tomatoes softens.

   Stove
3. 9
   Put the onion, carrot, celery, parsley, garlic, bay leaves and thyme in a large pot with the cold water.

   Large pot

   💡Start with cold water: the vegetables release their flavor slowly as the water heats up.
4. 10
   Bring to a boil over high heat and skim off the foam.

   Stove
5. 11
   Turn down to medium-low heat and simmer uncovered 30–45 minutes.

   Stove

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.
6. 12
   Strain the stock through a fine sieve.

   Fine sieve
7. 13
   Add the legumes and stock and bring to a boil.

   Stove
8. 14
   Turn down the heat and simmer stirring occasionally 15 minutes.

   Stove
9. 15
   Season with salt and black pepper, taste and adjust.
10. 16
    Sprinkle the parsley on top.
11. 17
    Serve hot with warm pita bread.