Celery Chickpeas Dish Recipe
From the questions I receive, I understand that there are some misconceptions about food and ingredients in Spain. These misconceptions fall into two categories. One group assumes that everything available in Turkey can also be found in Spain, while the other group thinks that nothing is available. In reality, neither of these assumptions is entirely accurate.
In many European countries, the Turkish population is quite large, making it easy to find Turkish markets. However, Spain is probably the country with the smallest Turkish population in Europe. Out of 50 million people, only around 4,000 to 5,000 are Turkish, and in Madrid, there are at most 1,000. This means that Turkish markets are not on every corner.
On the other hand, traditional Spanish cuisine and the ingredients required for it are quite different from ours. Finding staple ingredients like bulgur, phyllo dough, or tomato paste in regular supermarkets is quite difficult. However, in today's globalized world, if someone truly wants to find something, it is also quite difficult not to. Many items that are not available in Spanish supermarkets can often be found in Arab markets, which carry products closer to Turkish cuisine.
Luckily for me, there are three Arab markets on my street, so I can easily find everything from phyllo dough to artichoke bottoms and even Tat-brand tomato paste. However, when it comes to fresh ingredients, some things are simply unavailable. For example, in Spain—just like in most of the world—only the stalks of celery are consumed, not the root. In Turkey, celery stalks have also become more available, especially in farmers' markets. Since I have always used them before, this wasn’t a big change for me.
In this recipe, I combined celery stalks with chickpeas. I loved it, and I’m sure anyone who enjoys celery will too.
I served it hot, but you can also serve it cold if you prefer.
Enjoy the recipe!
Ingredients
- 3 cups of chickpeas,
- 1 bowl of chopped celery stalk,
- 1 onion, chopped,
- 2 carrots, chopped,
- 4 tablespoons olive oil,
- Juice of half of a lemon,
- Salt,
- 1 cup of broth or water.
Preparation
- Heat vegetable oil in a pot,
- Add the onions and cook until soften,
- Add the chopped celery stalks and carrots and stir,
- Cover the lid and cook in low heat until almost tender,
- Add broth and cook until the vegetables are fully cooked,
- Add salt and lemon juice, stir and remove from heat.
Bon Appetit...