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Chickpea Chili

by:
January 29, 2012
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  • Serves 4-6 (can be multiplied)
Author Notes

When I was in optometry school in Houston, my anatomy professor Jon Watson and his wife Susie won the annual Terlingua Chili cook-off. (http://www.abowlofred.com/) This was a very big deal, and resulted in chili being served at every house party and gathering with intense conversations about what cut of meat (Texans do not put beans in their chili!), how long to cook the meat, how much heat, what other spices, etc. What made the chili so amazing to me was the long cooking process with various flavors added along the way, resulting in a chili that was rich and layered with flavor.

I've made lots of chili over the years, but I had yet to make a vegetarian version that approached the same richness and depth of flavor as chili made with beef. This one comes close. It uses chickpeas instead of the usual kidney beans because they have a meatiness that you don't find in other beans. And I added eggplant to give the unctuous smooth texture and mouthfeel that you get from fat--without adding a lot of fat. (Thank you, Paul Qui of Top Chef for that idea.) And instead of dumping it all together and cooking it, I added the different flavors and spices gradually so that the flavors would enrich each other and meld together.

To cook the chickpeas, I used ChezSuzanne's technique outlined on her blog The Wimpy Vegetarian. (Isn't that a great name?) Here's the link: http://thewimpyvegetarian.com/2011/10/slow-food-cooking-chickpeas/
I added a habanero chili, a halved onion and a large smashed clove of garlic to the cooking water. The chili did give the chickpeas a smoky flavor with just a tiny hint of heat.

This chili, like most, is best if let to sit a while before eating it. I cook the chickpeas ahead of time, then get up early and start the chili in the morning. After resting all day, it's perfect for dinner. There are a lot of ingredients, but once you gather them all together, it goes really quickly.

You may like different spices or different proportions, more or less heat, and that's all fine. The trick here is to layer, let simmer, layer, let simmer, and you'll have a rich bowl of vegetarian chili. No, it won't taste like a beef chili, but it will be really good all the same. —drbabs

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Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 2 large sweet onions, diced
  • 2 large cloves garlic, minced
  • 1-2 jalapeño peppers, minced
  • 1 medium eggplant, peeled and diced (discard big clumps of seeds)
  • 4 cups cooked chick peas (see headnote)
  • kosher salt
  • chili powder (I like Penzey's Chili 3000)
  • ground cumin
  • ground ancho chiles
  • 1 can fire-roasted tomatoes (I use Muir Glen)
  • 1 bottle very dark beer
  • 1/2 cup full-bodied red wine
  • ground coriander
  • dried oregano
  • Dutch process cocoa powder
  • Smoked paprika
  • dark brown sugar
  • fresh ground black pepper
  • wedges of lime for serving
  • sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese for serving if desired
  • (optional) Tabasco sauce
Directions
  1. In a large Dutch oven, heat canola oil over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, and jalapeño pepper and a large pinch of kosher salt. Sauté, stirring frequently, until softened. Stir in eggplant, cover, and let eggplant cook with other vegetables for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  2. Stir in 11/2 teaspoon cumin, 1 tablespoon of chili powder and 1/2 teaspoon of ground ancho chiles. Stir in chickpeas, making sure all surfaces are covered with spices. Turn heat to very low, cover pot, and let cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  3. Pour in tomatoes, beer, wine, another teaspoon of cumin, 2 teaspoons of chili powder, a teaspoon of smoked paprika, a teaspoon of coriander, a tablespoon of cocoa powder, a teaspoon of kosher salt, 1/8-1/4 cup dark brown sugar and 1 teaspoon dried oregano. Bring chili to boil, then reduce heat and let simmer uncovered for another 1/2 hour.
  4. Turn heat off and let chili sit until about 1/2 hour before ready to serve. Taste it and adjust the seasoning to your taste. When ready to serve, raise heat gently to boil, then reduce heat and simmer chili for another 10-15 minutes. Taste and add salt, fresh ground black pepper, and other seasoning (more chili powder and /or cumin) to taste.
  5. Serve with a squeeze of lime. (I confess to liking sharp cheddar cheese and sour cream with my chili--it's your choice.) You can pass around some Tabasco sauce for more heat if you like.
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2 Reviews

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susan G. January 29, 2012
I love the subtlety of your technique. I'm sending it to my son who won first prize last year at the Rhode Island Kosher Chili Cook Off! He loves to spend all day on the chili, with many steps and stages. You have a real role model.
(I see jalapenos, but the headnote refers to a habanero-- was that just for cooking the chickpeas?)
drbabs January 29, 2012
Kosher Chili Cook-Off? That must be a trip! Congratulations to your son!

I used a habanero in the cooking water for the chickpeas. But I didn't include cooking the chickpeas in the recipe--I referred to ChezSuzanne's technique and linked to her blog. i hope that's not too confusing.