Chickpeas, Couscous, Carrots, and Tea

The recipe for Chicken Kdra in the book A Taste of Morocco, by Clare Ferguson, looked way too tasty to be passed over. I knew I would just have to overcome the chicken isn’t vegan issue.

Lucky for me the recipe includes chickpeas, so I decided just to make it without its star ingredient. It turned out brilliantly.

Chickpeas Kdra

I wanted to serve it up with some traditional couscous.  Have you seen how couscous is supposed to be made? Its a far cry from my ‘pour it out and cover with water’ standard, and requires a lot of time, patience, hand-rolling and equipment.

I don’t have time, patience or equipment, so needless to say I wussed out and went with my packet method. I did try to imitate the amazing traditional couscous dishes I’ve seen in books though, by making an onion jam and some spicy tomato sauce to top the couscous with.

As a vegetable dish I made some spicy carrots, which were much tastier and more interesting than they sound.

From top right: Spicy Carrots, Spicy Tomato Sauce, and Onion Jam

As this was a weekend night, I also bother to make a dessert of sliced oranges with cinnamon and sugar, which was pretty tasty. Credit for the idea goes the front of one of the cookbooks.

Oranges with Cinnamon and Sugar

Again, I mostly referred to a recipe in the book, but I made a few changes, so I will post my vegan version of Clare Ferguson’s Kdra.

Chickpea Kdra

serves 3

• 400g tin chickpeas, drained
• big pinch of saffron (or in my case, a huge amount of the dodgy “Turkish” saffron I got from a market in Istanbul)
• 1 tsp Massel chicken stock powder
• 1 Tbs ground ginger (I used the dry version)
• 1/4 tsp tumeric
• 1/4 tsp coriander
• 1 tbs margarine
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 2 Tbs parsley, chopped
• 1/2 cup white rice
• juice of one lemon
• coriander and parsley, to serve

1. In a large saucepan or frying pan, mix the chickpeas, spices, seasonings, onion and margarine over low heat until well combined.
2. Turn up the heat and fry, stirring constantly, until the onions start to sweat.
3. Add the rice and stir to combine.
4. Add 3 cups of boiling water and simmer until rice is cooked.
5. Squeeze lemon juice over it, salt to taste, and serve.