While this is fabulous cooked in a stockpot, there is something very comforting about coming home after a long day and smelling this beautiful soup gently simmering in the slow cooker. The chicken becomes incredibly tender and the chickpeas become so creamy.
Ingredients
300g (1 1/2 cups) dried chickpeas
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 onion, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 fennel bulb, chopped, fronds reserved
salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2cm piece of ginger, chopped 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 litre chicken stock
4 chicken drumsticks
2 large handfuls of baby spinach leaves
zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
80g (1/3 cup) plain yoghurt or sour cream
3 tablespoons crispy
fried shallots
chilli flakes, to serve (optional)
Serves 4
Method
Soak the chickpeas in plenty of water overnight, then drain and rinse well.
Heat the olive oil in a stockpot over medium–high heat and add the onion, celery and fennel. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and cook, stirring regularly, for 4–5 minutes until softened with a little colour. Add the garlic, ginger and cumin seeds and cook for a further 2 minutes.
Add the chickpeas to the pot and stir well before adding the chicken stock and enough water to cover everything by 5 cm. Bring to the boil and skim off any impurities that rise to the surface. Turn the heat down to low, cover with the lid and cook for 1 hour. Add the chicken and cook for a further 1 hour, or until the chickpeas are tender and the chicken is falling off the bone.
Remove the chicken from the soup. Shred the meat from the bone; discard the fat and bones. Remove half a cup of the cooked chickpeas from the soup and reserve to serve.
Spoon 3 ladlefuls of chickpeas and broth into a blender and blend until smooth. Alternatively, use a hand-held blender and pulse three or four times. This gives a creamy finish to the soup. If using the blender, pour the puree back into the soup. Check the seasoning; it may need a little extra salt at this stage. Return the chicken to the soup and stir through the spinach, lemon zest and juice.
Divide the soup among bowls and add a dollop of yoghurt or sour cream. Scatter over the crispy fried shallots and reserved chickpeas and fennel fronds. Add a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of chilli flakes (if using) and serve.
Notes
Alternatively, use two 400g cans of drained and rinsed chickpeas.
If cooking the traditional way, cover the canned chickpeas with 2cm of water (instead of 5cm) and cook for 1 1/2 hours; if using the slow cooker, cook on low for 6 hours.
