Chickpea and Sweet Potato Get-you-out-of-a Stew

This Moroccan-inspired dish ticks so many boxes. It’s healthy, comforting, full of flavour, quick and can easily be increased to serve more people – although these portions are fairly generous. What’s more, the kids love the sweetness coming from the sweet potatoes and dried apricots. If you have extra sweet potatoes, they are great baked in a hot oven for about 45 minutes, then served with a knob of butter and lots of freshly ground black pepper.

MAKES 2 adult and 4 kid-sized portions

PREPARATION TIME 10 minutes

COOKING TIME 1 hour

4 tbsp olive oil

2 red or white onions, thickly sliced

6 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp turmeric

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

800g/1lb 12oz/3½ cups canned chopped tomatoes

480g/1lb 1oz drained canned chickpeas/ garbanzos

4 carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks

4 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks

200g/7oz/1 heaped cup dried, ready-toeat apricots, torn in half

2 large handfuls of coriander/cilantro leaves, chopped

juice of 2 lemons

 

1 Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole, or a tagine if you have one. Add the onions and cook over a low heat with the lid on for about 10 minutes until softened and starting to colour, stirring a couple of times during cooking. Stir in the garlic and spices and cook for a minute or so before adding 400ml/14fl oz/scant 1¾ cups water and all the remaining ingredients except the chopped coriander/cilantro and lemon juice.

2 Bring to a simmer and cover loosely with a lid. Leave to simmer for up to 45 minutes until the sweet potatoes and carrots are tender.

3 Add the coriander/cilantro and lemon juice, stir through and serve.