Traditional Canarian dishes: chickpea stew

The Garbanzada canaria, also known as garbanzas compuestas, is a typical dish of the archipelago that can be eaten as a tapa, half-portion or as a unique course.
 

The traditional composition of the recipe is fairly unanimous, and it can be found in almost all popular restaurants in the Canary Islands.
 

It’s very similar to the stews of northern Spain, so it may have been introduced to the archipelago by the Castilians after the conquest.

This stew occupies a prominent place in the use of legumes in Canarian gastronomy.
 

Recipe: how to make the chickpea stew

In the Canary Islands, there’s a difference between the chickpea and the garbanza. The latter is larger, whiter, more tender and easier to cook.

The basis of this recipe consists of stewing the garbanzas with various pieces of pork: bacon, salted ribs, chorizo and a couple of pig’s trotters.
 

Ingredients

• 500 g chickpeas
• 500 g potatoes (optional)
• 200 g of salted ribs
• 2 pig's trotters
• 200 g of bacon
• 100 g of chorizo
• 1 pepper
• 1 large onion
• Paprika
• Bay leaf
• 2 black peppercorns

Preparation

• The night before, put the chickpeas and ribs in separate containers with water.
• When preparing the Garbanzada, put the chickpeas, ribs and pork in a pot with water and bring to a simmer.
• At the first boil, add the bacon and the chorizo, while making a sofrito (sauce with pepper, onion and three cloves of garlic).
• When the sauce is ready, pour it into the chickpea pot and stir well.
• Add a couple of bay leaves, half a spoonful of paprika and a couple of black peppercorns.
• Optionally, dice the potatoes, fry until golden brown and add them to the stew.
• Add salt to taste.

As you’ll have seen, the garbanzada canaria is a very tasty and hearty dish, which is eaten especially in winter.