Moroccan Spiced Chickpea or Garbanzo Soup

nsomniak6's Note:

Although my son hates chickpeas the rest of us loves them, so i guess he has to suffer occasionally! This recipe came out of looking for just the right recipe to get the flavors that I was looking for. I discovered that you have to temper yogurt before you add it and there are a couple of methods to do that. One is bringing the yogurt to room temperature and stirring well before adding it to the soup and make sure not to boil it. The other was adding some cornstarch and water to the yogurt before adding it. There are other methods involving eggs, but I'm not too keen on eggs in soup. I haven't tried the tempering yet and the first attempt at making this the yogurt curdled, but we ate it anyway and the flavors were good, so I will make it again and either temper the yogurt or add it at each serving. I also understand that if you reheat the soup it may curdle if you put the yogurt in before heating, so keep that in mind. You can also add celery and carrots, but I wanted to keep it simple and not overpower the other flavors.

• Total Time: 30 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 6

Yield: 6.0 bowls

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large onion , chopped
• 3 large garlic cloves , minced
• 1 tablespoon ginger , fresh, minced fine
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 ½ teaspoons cumin
• 1 ½ teaspoons garam masala
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• pepper
• 1 lb potato , cleaned and chopped into smallish pieces
• 2 (15 ounce) cans chickpeas , drained
• 4 large tomatoes , sliced thick and cut in half or
• 1 (14 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 cup yogurt, tempered (see description) or 1 cup sour cream
• ½ cup cilantro , minced

Directions:

1. Saute onions in in oil on med heat for about 3 mins in a dutch oven.
2. Add garlic, ginger and all of the spices up to the salt and saute another minute.
3. Add broth and bring to a light boil making sure to scrape any bits off of the bottom of pot.
4. Add potatoes, chickpeas and tomatoes then bring heat down to med-low. Cook until potatoes are fork tender about 10-15 minutes.
5. Take off heat, add lemon juice and stir.
6. Add yogurt a little bit at a time and stir.
7. Stir in cilantro.
8. Serve with naan or chapati.

Reviews

[Cilantro in Canada]

I had started making this and half way through I realized I was out of garam masala, cilantro and yogurt, so I decided to go ahead anyway, and I would run to the store closer to dinner to get the missing ingredients. Well my 16 year old daughter and my husband wanted to try it anyway and loved it as it was. I am looking forward to making it as directed though. Thanks for the recipe.

[*Parsley*]

Deeeelicious! I love Moroccan spices, so I knew I'd love this. I made this according to the recipe, adding a little extra garam masala. The flavor and texture is perfect and it's quite filling. The fresh lemon juice and fresh cilantro are a must. I tempered in plain greek yogurt and no curdling occurred. I would love to make this with a sweet potato instead of a regular potato next time. Thanx for sharing!