This Indian-inspired stew is packed full of delicious flavors and combinations. Fresh ginger plays a large part along with garlic, red onion, sweet potatoes and cauliflower. Chickpeas are included with their cooking water, which makes the broth extra flavorful!
This stew has reminded me that even though I don't like "hot-n-spicy" where it burns my mouth, I do enjoy it to a medium degree. The foundation of this mellower heat is fresh ginger, 1 whole tablespoon, which sounds like a lot but it really works! It's like a party in your mouth!
If you want a more intense heat, add red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, and/or a spicier chili powder (I used mild).
Above: The red onion, garlic and ginger (next to the piece of ginger). I have chopped the red onion a little bigger than I usually do when I chop onions because I love the sweet flavor of the reds.
I used my Tupperware Smart Chopper to chop the garlic and ginger (see Equipment section below). One tablespoon of fresh ginger sounds like a lot, but because it's cooked, it works really well and doesn't have a too-strong gingery taste.
Above: The ground chili powder, cumin, and garam masala.
If you want a more spicy kick, you can use Medium or Hot chili powder instead.
I've used ground cumin here, because most everyone has it; but you can also grind your own cumin from seeds and/or throw in a small amount of whole cumin seeds for added flavor.
Garam Masala is a blend of ground spices originating from India. Blends are regional, so the ingredients vary, but often include cumin, pepper, clove, cinnamon and cardamom. Garam Masala is easy to find in grocery stores or online. I get my spices from Savory Spice and Local Spicery.
Above: The type of sweet potato I use is Hannah yam, shown above with the light-colored skin and white flesh (see photo below). This is my favorite sweet potato, but feel free to substitute with other types or white potatoes.
I used Westbrae no-salt garbanzo beans (also known as "chickpeas"), but you can cook your own from dry beans as well; the cooking water from doing this is delicious as a soup base/broth!
I am moving more toward using tomatoes in the jar rather than the can since you can get just organic tomatoes without any preservatives or salt. I like this Jovial brand (this is an 18-oz. jar, which is 2.5 cups) as well as Bionature. I'm sure you could also use fresh tomatoes, but I have not tested this yet.
Above: The 4 cups of collard greens (but you can use any type of greens, including kale, Swiss chard, or beet greens), with the 2.5 cups of cauliflower.
Above: This photo shows Step 3 before adding in the greens and zucchini.
Above: The fresh cilantro before chopping it. If you don’t eat fresh cilantro, feel free to substitute with parsley or basil.
Ta-da! That broth is so flavorful, you're going to love it!
Sweet and Spicy Chickpea Stew
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Yield: 6-8 (makes about 9 cups) 1x
Ingredients
- 1 medium red onion, chopped (about 1¾ cups)
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic (3 to 4 cloves)
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger
- 1½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1½ teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon mild chili powder
- 2¼ cups strained or diced tomatoes (I used an 18-oz. jar, see Notes)
- 2½ cups chopped sweet potatoes (about ¾ lb.)
- 2½ cups cauliflower
- 2 cups water and/or chickpea cooking liquid (see Notes)
- 1 can (16 oz.) chickpeas with liquid (about 1½ cups chickpeas and ¼ cup liquid)
- 4 cups chopped collard greens (or other greens)
- 1 medium zucchini, chopped
- 1 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon of water in a soup pot over medium-high heat. When the water begins to sputter, add the onion, and cook stirring, for 3 to 4 minutes until softened, adding a little water as needed.
- Add the garlic, ginger, cumin, garam masala, and chili powder, and cook while stirring for 1 minute, adding water as needed.
- Add the tomatoes, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, water, chickpeas, and collard greens. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook covered for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the cauliflower and potatoes become tender but not falling apart. During the last 2 to 3 minutes, stir in the zucchini until it's cooked.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro or offer it on the side when serving.
Equipment
Buy Now → 
Stainless Steel 6-Quart Stockpot with Lid
Buy Now →
Smart Chopper (garlic/ginger chopper)
Buy Now →Notes
Chickpeas and their liquid: If you’re using a 16-oz. can of chickpeas, use the liquid as well. If you’re making your chickpeas from scratch, also include this ¼ cup of cooking liquid (“aquafaba”). If you’d like to substitute more of the cooking liquid for the plain water, feel free to do that as well. Chickpea cooking water is very flavorful!
Sweet potatoes: I think sweet potatoes are the perfect ingredient for this recipe (my favorite is Hannah yams), but feel free to use other types or white potatoes as well.
Tomatoes: I used an 18-oz. jar of diced tomatoes by the brand Jovial (you can also use their strained) because it’s organic and the only ingredient is tomatoes. Bionature also is a good brand with similar products. I prefer the taste of jarred tomatoes (and they don’t require preservatives), but if you can only find the 14.5-oz. cans (like Muir Glen), that’s fine too; it doesn’t have to be exactly 18 ounces, you may just need to add a little more liquid in step 3.
Cilantro: If you don’t eat fresh cilantro, feel free to substitute with parsley or basil.
- Prep Time: 25 minuntes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ⅛ recipe (about 1 cup)
- Calories: 166
- Sugar: 7 g
- Sodium: 59 mg
- Fat: 2 g
- Saturated Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 32 g
- Fiber: 9 g
- Protein: 8 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
This sounds wonderful! Any suggestions on making it in a pressure cooker?
I'd just cook it all enough to cook the potatoes since they are the hardest; everything will have cooked well by then. But not sure about the liquid. You could do a batch as written then adjust next time with more/less liquid and cooking time. Add the zucchini and cilantro in after it's done, otherwise they will overcook.
I made this in an instant pot cook time was 12 minutes. Followed recipe as is
except used chard. Absolutely fabulously delicious. Thank you Cathy!
Thanks Michael! 🙂 That's great to hear! Did you put everything in all at once and then cook for 12 minutes, or did you anything later?
I used the saute feature with same times from recipe I think 3-4 mins for onion and 1 minute for the rest then put everything in for 12 minutes except zucchini and cilantro. I didn't do a quick release after the 12 minutes I let the pressure release on it's own so about another 10 minutes then added the cilantro. Zucchini was separate (3 mins) using the steam feature. 👌
Great! Thanks Michael! 😉
I made this using spinach for the greens. It was absolutely delicious!!
Yum! Thanks for the comment! 🙂