Chickpeas with Lemon and Saffron

 

Chickpeas with lemon and saffron: mild and comforting for cooler weather

Chickpeas with lemon and saffron is a mild and comforting dish that I like to make when the weather cools down.

Both the lemon and saffron give the dish a lot of flavour, and the cooked chickpeas have a lovely creamy consistency.

This dish is quick and easy to make as it uses tinned chickpeas, rather than their dried counterparts, which require soaking overnight.

The liquid tends to make it a bit stew-like. If this is not to your liking, just add a little less stock or water when cooking.

I try to include legumes such as chickpeas and lentils into our weekly rotation of meals. This can prove tricky, with three hungry teenagers hankering for meat to fill them up.

However, these chickpeas with lemon and saffron has made it into the mix. It makes a good thermos lunch that keeps them (and me) going all day.

The origin of chickpeas

Chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans, play an important role in many cultures of the Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa, including Spain, Italy, Lebanon, Israel, Morocco and Ethiopia (to name just a few).

Did you know that chickpeas, along with lentils and peas, are one of the oldest cultivated plants in existence?

The wild ancestors of chickpeas are native to western Asia. The earliest archeological evidence for their human consumption is found at sites in Turkey and northern Syria, and dates from  8,000 to 10,000 BCE.

From their beginnings as an important food source in Syria and Turkey, the plant spread to other parts of the Middle East (Israel, Jordan), the Mediterranean (Egypt, North Africa) and to India.

India is now the world’s largest producer of chickpeas.

Both the Ancient Greeks and Romans ate them, spreading the crop throughout Europe.

Chickpeas were first grown in Australia as a commercial crop in Goondiwindi spring the 19702.

Now, they’re an important crop in the northern farming systems in NSW and QLD. They’re becoming more widely grown in VIC, SA and WA.

Saffron

Saffron are the golden-coloured pungent stigmas of the autumn crocus flower which are dried and used as a spice to flavour food, as well as a dye to colour foods and other products.

It has been cultivated for more than 3000 years. Traditionally, saffron was used for medicine, perfume and dying yarn.

Saffron has a strong exotic aroma and a bitter taste. It is used in many Mediterranean and Asian dishes, particularly rice and fish.

It is an important ingredient in the French bouillabaisse soup, a delicious fish soup from Provence.

Why is saffron so expensive?

Did you know that it is the word’s most expensive spice?

Saffron is a very labour-intensive crop. It takes 165 crocus flower petals to make 1g of saffron.

Only three stigmas are handpicked from each flower. They are then spread on trays and dried over charcoal fires.

Iran is the world’s largest saffron grower, followed by Kashmir and Spain. Iranian saffron is in fact considered to be the highest quality in the world.

There are a couple of saffron growers in Australia: Eladnelle Farm in TAS, and Argyle Saffron in Orange, NSW.

More recipes with chickpeas

If you like cooking with chickpeas, you might like to try this chicken tagine recipe.

And here are two yummy side dishes using hummous:

Roasted carrots with hummous and walnuts

Roasted romanesco with green pea hummous

Best wishes,

Amanda

PS: If you’ve tried these  chickpeas with lemon  and saffron or any other recipe from At Amanda’s Table, please let me know how it turned out in the comments below.

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