Middle Eastern Aubergine and Chickpea Stew

Hey everyone, tonight’s dinner is Middle Eastern Aubergine and chickpeas in a tomato sauce. I also added some beef mince but I froze it into long strips and defrosted and added into the stew. I’m serving this with Bulgar wheat and Tahini salad.

Ingredients

Stew

• 500g Minced beef
• 1 tin of tomatoes
• A good squirt of tomato puree
• One large onion
• One green pepper or some frozen peppers
• 1 aubergine
• 1 tin chickpeas
• 1/2 a teaspoon each of of black pepper, salt,cinnamon, cayenne pepper, Zaatar, paprika, garlic powder, vegetable stock powder

Method

1. Fry 1 large chopped onion until translucent*
2. Add 1 green chopped pepper and fry for a further 2 minutes
3. Chop an aubergine into small chunks then add your chopped Aubergine to the pan and fry for 5 minutes
4. Add your preferred meat and fry for another 5 minutes
5. Add 1/2 a teaspoon each of black pepper, salt, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, Zataar, paprika, garlic powder, vegetable stock powder.
6. Fry for another 2 minutes
7. Add 1 tin of chopped tomatoes and add 1 cup of boiling water to the pan.
8. Bring back to a rolling boil then lower the heat and allow to simmer for 35 minutes.
9. Add the drained tinned chickpeas and cook for a further 10 minutes
10. Garnish with coriander. Enjoy x 

What is Zaatar?

Za’atar is a culinary herb or family of herbs. It is also the name of a spice mixture that includes the herb along with toasted sesame seeds, dried sumac, often salt, as well as other spices. Wikipedia