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Friday, July 30, 2010

Chickpea & Sweet Potato Soup (Ethiopian-inspired)

Just gonna put a quickie out today.  I seem to have fallen behind in so many things over the past couple of weeks.  Visiting, commenting, organizing, thinking!  That's me...yes woman.  Has a hard time turning things down.  Figure I can fit it in somewhere...I can do it all!  Maybe if I try real hard.  Maybe if the day would have at least 8 more hours in which to accomplish the various tings on my list...some of which I've surely already forgotten.  One thing that's been on that list for the past month is cooking up something Ethiopian.  One. Whole. Month.  That's how long I've been sitting on this...pondering.  My dish ended up more Ethiopian-inspired (flavors) than authentic Ethiopian, I think...  Ahhh.  And I really wanted to make some Injera bread to go with it.  That was really my main goal.  BUT, my former omelette pan-slash-crepe pan is s-h-o-t SHOT.  Why?  Because even though I swore when I bought it that I would ONLY use it for omelettes, crepes, or fried eggs...it of course got used for many other things.  Sticky things, scrapey things, smooth-nonstick, easy-flip surface-ruining things!  Soooo, instead I bring you a simple soup-ish (was going for a stew...sigh) Ethiopian-inspired dish...

Ethiopian-inspired Chickpea & Sweet Potato Soup
from the kitchen of girlichef

olive oil
~3 c. chickpeas (~1/2 lb. before cooking)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
1" pc. of ginger, minced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3 roma tomatoes, peel & pureéd
4 c. vegetable broth (or any bone broth if not vegetarian)
2 lg. sweet potatoes, peel & diced
~2 Tbs. Berbere (an Ethiopian Spice mix, recipe below)

Toss the drained chickpeas with a bit of olive oil and spread on a parchment lined sheet tray.  Cook in a 450 degree F oven for ~30 mins., stirring once, until the chickpeas are very dry and golden.

Drizzle a bit of olive oil in a med-large soup pot over medium heat.  Add the garlic, onion, and ginger and stir until soft and fragrant.  Add the Berbere and stir for a minute or so to release the oils in the spices.  Add bell pepper and pureéd tomatoes, cook another couple minutes.  Add roasted chickpeas, sweet potatoes, and broth.  Stir, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, cover partially and cook until the sweet potatoes are tender.  Check seasoning and season w/ salt & pepper if necessary.  If stewy enough, serve over Injera bread...or simply eat from a bowl...you can always dip some flat bread.

Berbere Spice
adapted from several recipes I found around the net


2 tsp. cumin seeds whole
7 ea. cloves, whole
3/4 tsp. cardamom seeds
1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, whole
3 ea.. allspice berries, whole
1 tsp. fenugreek
1/2 tsp. coriander seeds, whole
10 small dried red chiles, stemmed
3/4 tsp. dried ginger 
1/4 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. sea salt
2 1/2 Tbs. mild paprika
1/8 tsp. cinnamon


In small pan, on a low heat, toast cumin, cloves, cardamom, peppercorns, allspice, and corainder for ~2 minutes, shaking constantly.  Let cool slightly.  In a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle, finely grind together the toasted spices and chilies.  Store in airtight container.



This post is linked to:
RegionalRecipesVFFSouperSundaysPhotobucket
MLLA was started by Susan at Well Seasoned Cook.

Would you like to comment?

  1. Oh, honey, don't worry about taking an entire month to get to this fabulous soup -- I've been trying for monthS (PLURAL!!!) to get to a tortilla soup, and I'm still not seeing it on the horizon ... :( I haven't forgotten you, though!!!

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  2. This is a gorgeous soup! I know what you mean about falling behind! I made my Ethiopian meal just in the nick of time. I love your wonderful spice blend!

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  3. Wow! That looks so good, just love your sauce. I'll wait for your Ingera bread..:-)

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  4. I have to tell you the Ethiopian food that I have eaten...I ate, but I really didn't enjoy...That spongey bread...and FUNKY RAW meat...but this sounds much more like something I would enjoy...It acutually seems very Indian, but the two cuisines share lots of the same flavors.

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  5. I know how it feels when we are falling behind our schedule. But chin up, you can seriously do all of them. Once again this soup has made me to crave for Ethiopian food.

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  6. I totally know how it is to fall behind! This whole month has been crazy! I just made my Ethiopian dish last night, it's similar to yours but mine has lentils rather than chickpeas. I love the lentils but I think I would have rather had the chickpeas! My injera last night consisted of a tortilla! How Ethiopian, huh! Thanks!

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  7. I feel supremely inspired by this, therefore who cares how authentic it is! Plus it has sweet potatoes and you so get bonus points for that. Thanks for the submission!

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  8. A creative idea of combing chickpeas and sweet potatoes! Love the soup.

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  9. This looks delicious. Thanks so much for linking today!

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  10. I LOVE Ethiopian foods, so this is right up my alley, sounds like you and I are squeezing down the same alley actually :) I have found time to say hello when I can a couple of times a week, maybe for an hour!

    My first ethnic restaurant to manage and cook in St. Louis was Ethiopian, love it, and learning doro wat and berber seasonings!

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  11. This is a very creative soup for the event Heather.

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  12. Your soup sounds lovely - and good for you too! And I could use 8 more hours in the day too :)

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  13. Berebere is one hell of a spice mix! This looks fantastic. Garbanzo bean...anything, is something I'm sure to love.

    P.S. Thank you for your birthday wish. Thank you for helping me. I ordered the CC and rennet. Yay!

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  14. NO ONE will think you're any less amazing and wonderful and superwoman-y for saying 'no'. Everyone needs limits.

    =)

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  15. looks delicious n tempting ....lovely soup and pics...simply yummo

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  16. I'm feeling that tug of falling behind too. Hence that titilating green bean post over at my blog. :-) I'm hoping to catch up tomorrow and make some plans for some interesting things for my table and my blog. I love sweet potatos in soup. Thanks for this recipe. Rick Bayless tickets go on sale next week...wish me luck.

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  17. I have been running behind all month too. ;-) This soup looks delicious--of course you had me at chickpeas. Thanks for sending it to Souper Sundays.

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  18. I know the feeling. I've had "Ethiopia" written on a sticky note on my computer the entire month. Didn't make it.

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  19. This looks great! I love chickpeas :)

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  20. I just got Marcus Samuelsson's book about african cuisine, and it is so inspiring. It's such an underappreciated area of cooking. I mean, holy cow, there's a whole big continent there, and I know next to nothing about any of it's countries' foods. But what a great opportunity to explore.

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  21. Ellerinize sağlık. Çok leziz görünüyor.

    Saygılar.

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  22. I don't know how you do it all anyway! I'm always impressed by you! We sure don't care that you've been sitting on this for a month! It looks awesome though! I know what you are going through with your omelette pan...grrr...I still have one in reserve just for eggs, crepe and such, but I'm going to have to throw the old one out. I hate doing that!

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  23. Holy smokes, that is a soup full o' seasoning, I love it.

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  24. What a great assortment of flavors. And just stunning! On my way home from Farmers market today, saw an Ethiopian wedding party gathering. She was coming up St. Paul in a horse and carriage - all were glowing. Must be my good-luck Ethiopian day!

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  25. Mmm, chickpeas and sweet potatoes sound perfect together! I've been meaning to go to an Ethiopian restaurant by us since I don't know much about the cuisine. If it's like this I think I'll love it!

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  26. Oh Wow! I have to try this soon! Thank you so much for posting this, look so so good.

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