Chickpeas & chermoula

It seems appropriate to kick this thing off with my chickpea and chermoula recipe. It’s one that’s made an appearance at many a dinner this winter and everyone seems to love it.

I came up with it because I love chermoula but it’s usually used on fish and sometimes chicken. My boyfriend and housemate are vegetarian (and 3/4 of my friends for that matter) and I wanted to share the joys of chermoula with the non-carnivorous.

At first I tried just cooking the chickpeas in chermoula with nothing else, but it really needs something to round it out. Yoghurt or Labna (Lebanese cheese made from yoghurt) works really well. You can also add in baby spinach to mix it up a little.

First, make chermoula

Chermoula

• 1/2 a preserved lemon (rinsed under water and pulp removed)
• 2 gloves of garlic
• 3 tbsp fresh parsley leaves
• 3 tbsp fresh coriander leaves
• 1/2 tsp of paprika
• 1 tsp of harissa
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 3 tbsp olive oil

Throw it all in the blender and blended it until it’s smooth. It should look quite yellow.

You’ll then need:

• 400g tin of chickpeas
• yoghurt
• 2 garlic cloves

To cook

Crush up the garlic cloves and fry them for a few seconds in some olive oil. Add the tin of chickpeas, all the chermoula that you made, and baby spinach if you’re using it. Simmer for a couple of minutes on low heat. Then add around 4 tablespoons of yoghurt and salt to taste.

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