The surprising highlight about this plant-based stew is the delicious complexity of flavors. Using North African spice blends—Ras el Hanout, and Harissa—we get floral, warm, slightly sweet notes, with a touch of heat from the Harissa. These blends can be purchased on Amazon for well under $10, or created in your kitchen, though they use quite a variety of spices. The stew can be made with any other spice blend, but these made it surprisingly good! The stew is both wholesome and healthy, without compromising on flavor and everyone to whom I have served it raves! I double or triple the recipe in order to feed a crowd, or to have lots of meals to freeze. Serves 6
Heat a large pot to medium/high. Add the onion, carrot, red pepper and thyme. Stir, then add a few tablespoons of stock to prevent sticking. Cover, lower heat, and let cook about 8-10 minutes to soften the vegetables, stirring and adding broth to prevent burning. When veggies are softened and lightly browned, add garlic and stir.
Add the dry spices and stir for a few minutes until fragrant, careful not to brown.
Add tomatoes and salt and vinegar. Turn up heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes to slightly break down the tomatoes.
Add the vegetable stock (3 cups for a dense stew, more if you like more broth, as I do, and the chickpeas. Continue to lightly simmer for 15-20 minutes, allowing the flavors to combine and the sauce to thicken slightly. Make the garlicky yogurt while waiting, or use tofu sour cream, which also works well (link in YouTube video description).
Stir in the cilantro, taste and adjust the seasonings if necessary.
To serve, ladle the stew in bowls and add a dollop of yogurt. Sprinkle with extra cilantro on top.
Serve steaming hot with rice or your favorite bread.
