Etli Nohut (Turkish Chickpea Stew)
Slow-simmered chickpeas and tender chunks of lamb in a rich tomato and pepper paste sauce — the great comfort dish of every Turkish lokanta.
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Ingredients
250g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight in plenty of cold water
(shortcut: 2 x 400g tins / 800g boiled chickpeas, drained)
400g diced lamb shoulder or braising beef, cut into 2cm cubes
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp hot pepper paste
1 tsp chilli pepper flakes
1 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
About 750ml hot water
Instructions
- 1
Drain the soaked chickpeas, cover with fresh water and boil for 45-60 minutes until almost tender, then drain. Skip this step entirely if using tinned chickpeas.
- 2
Heat the sunflower oil in a heavy casserole over medium-high heat and brown the meat in a single layer for 5-6 minutes, turning until sealed on all sides.
- 3
Lower the heat, add the onion and cook for 4-5 minutes until softened.
- 4
Stir in the tomato paste and hot pepper paste and fry for 1 minute until the oil turns red and fragrant.
- 5
Add the cumin, chilli flakes, black pepper and hot water; bring to the boil, then cover and simmer gently for 40-50 minutes until the meat is tender.
- 6
Add the chickpeas and salt, top up with a little hot water if needed, and simmer uncovered for 15-20 minutes until the sauce thickens and coats the back of a spoon.
- 7
Taste and adjust the seasoning, rest for 5 minutes off the heat, and serve hot over rice pilaf with pickles and ayran.
Walk into any esnaf lokantasi — the tradesmen's canteens that feed working Turkey at lunchtime — and there will be a deep tray of etli nohut steaming behind the glass. Chickpeas and meat simmered together until the beans are creamy, the lamb falls apart, and the broth turns brick-red and glossy from tomato and pepper paste. It is honest, inexpensive food that tastes far grander than the sum of its parts.
Two things make it sing. First, patience: the meat needs a slow simmer of 40-50 minutes before the chickpeas join, so everything finishes tender at the same moment. Second, the double paste — sweet tomato salca for body and hot pepper salca for warmth — fried briefly in the oil until it smells toasty before any liquid goes in. That one minute of frying is where the depth of flavour comes from.
Dried chickpeas soaked overnight give the creamiest result, but a couple of tins of boiled chickpeas make this a very doable weeknight dish; just add them later so they hold their shape. Everything except the fresh meat — Duru chickpeas, Oncu pastes, cumin and chilli flakes — can be delivered anywhere in the UK by Turkish Online Market. Serve it the lokanta way: over buttery rice pilaf, with pickles and a glass of sour ayran.
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